


So Glad To Meet You

by orphan_account



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-12-26
Updated: 2013-12-07
Packaged: 2017-11-22 13:09:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 74,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/610174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean Winchester is having a mild crisis. Well, mild is putting it lightly. More like a turn-your-world-upside-down-and-rethink-every-decision-you’ve-ever-made kind of crisis. And it all started when the damn Novak family moved to town. (Or, when Dean and Castiel became friends in highschool, and how they became so much more)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Which There Is A Boy Named Dean Winchester

Dean Winchester was about as normal as a teenage guy could get. With a vintage car he cared about more than most girls he dated, an eternal love for classic rock, and a position on the varsity baseball team, he didn’t get much more ordinary.

Sure, his mom had died in a house fire that no, he still wasn’t over, so leave it alone, okay? And his dad was kind of a drinker and had left him and his brother to live with their sort-of uncle Bobby. Sure said uncle was a bit of a drinker as well, and maybe the boys were a bit too comfortable with large guns than boys at their age should be, but hey, every family has their eccentricities, right?

Anyway, Dean Winchester. Tallish, muscled from years of baseball, snarky sarcastic sense of humor and green eyes. Pretty ordinary as teen boys go. He wasn’t exactly a god of high school, but he was popular enough; had a close knit group of friends and dated some of the prettiest girls around. Sometimes for longer than a week. He was a high school Junior, with a little brother who was just about to start his freshman year of highschool. He had a decent GPA, though occasionally he almost failed a classs and had to weasel his way out of it. Though, all in all, Dean Winchester was happy.  Dean Winchester was normal.

Dean Winchester was freaking the fuck out. 

Sorry, perhaps some explanation is necessary. Let’s start at the beginning shall we? Not of Dean’s life, but of the events which led to Dean’s internal crisis. Which is to say, his Junior year of high school.

————-

It was the first day of his Junior year, and Dean was running late.

“SAM. GET YOUR SCRAWNY ASS DOWN HERE OR I AM LEAVING YOU BEHIND.” Dean shouted up the stairs of Bobby’s house, scooping up his backpack from the floor.

Bobby smacked him on the back of the head. “Boy, what'd I tell you about shouting in my house this early in the morning?”

“Sorry Bobby.” Dean gave him a smile. “Sam, let’s go!”

“Coming, coming.” Sam said, running down the stairs in a misbuttoned plaid shirt, some ripped jeans, and one shoe.

“Dude. Who taught you to dress yourself?” Dean said, grabbing his little brother and fixing his buttons.

Sam smiled up at his brother and shoved his hands away. “You did.”

“Well obviously it didn’t stick.” Dean said, shaking his head. “How many layers of plaid do you need anyway?”

“Oh shut up.”

Dean smiled and handed his baby brother his missing boot. “All right, so, ready for highschool?” Sam nodded. “Well remember, never take joints from anyone named Tito or Don, never eat the mystery meat in the caf, and always use protection.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Sam rolled his eyes.

Bobby gave the two boys pats on the shoulder, which was about the extent of the affection Bobby showed anyone ever. “You two be good. Dean, I get any sort of call from anyone about your dumb ass getting into trouble, you won’t see the Impala for a month. Got it?”

Dean flashed him his best innocent smile. “Got it!” He said, pushing Sam out the door.

“Look after your brother!!” Bobby shouted from the porch as the two walked to the car. Like Dean would ever need to be reminded to do that.

Dean smiled as he unlocked the door to the Impala; there was very little he loved more than this car. Ever since he had been able to see over the dashboard he’d wanted it. It was the one thing his dad had given him before leaving, and Dean kept it pristine.

“All right, Sammy boy. Let’s do this.” He grinned and pushed a tape into the cassette player.

“Dean, do we have to start the morning off with-“

“Shut up, Sammy. My car, my music.” He turned up the volume as Back in Black came on the speakers. “And my music fucking rocks.”

“Your words, not mine.” Sam said with one of his classic bitchfaces; he had several, all of which had been carefully categorized by Dean.

“Bitch.” Dean said, giving his little brother a punch on the arm.

“Jerk.”

————-

Dean checked first his schedule and then his watch. He had thirty minutes before first period started, giving him fifty to get to class. Hell yes. Time to find Jo.

He found his little blonde talking to some girl friends of hers, two brunettes and a really pretty red-head. He snuck up behind her and lifted her up, throwing her over his shoulder as he did.

She shrieked. “DEAN. Oh my god, asshole, put me down!!” 

He laughed and placed her back on the floor. “Miss me?”

“No, as a matter of fact, I in no way missed my best friend as he went gallivanting around the country all summer, leaving me alone for almost three months with my bat-shit crazy mother.” The tiny girl put her hands on her hips and glared at him, which was actually a lot more scary than Dean would like to admit. “I could kill you.”

Dean gave her a winning smile and held out a bag of her favorite kind of chocolate. “Forgiven?”

She grabbed the bag out of his hands. “No. I have new best friends now, don’t need you anymore.”

“Wait… really?” Dean frowned.

“No, not really!” Jo glared at him for a bit longer, but finally gave in to his pout and let him hug her. “Fine, fine, asshat, you’re forgiven. But hey, c’mere, want you to meet some people.”

She introduced him to the three girls; Jessica, Louisa, and Anna, the pretty redhead. Jess was a freshman, Louisa was in his year, and Anna was a senior.

“Hey.” Dean said with his most attractive smile (yes, he knew exactly which kind was his most attractive, so what?) “Sorry ladies, but I’m gonna have to steal Jo away from you for the rest of morning. We need to find some friends of ours.” And if Jo protested to him throwing her over her shoulder again and walking off with her, he ignored it.

————-

Within ten minutes, his group was crammed on and around a couch in the commons. This included Jo, Lisa, a tall dark and gorgeous yoga fanatic, Chuck, a nervous introvert writer waiting for inspiration, Ash, a senior and tech wizard, Kali, a mischevious and beautiful theatre girl with a penchant for scheming, and Meg, the senior whore. Quite the motley crew.

As Ash and Chuck rambled on about various new authors and tech things, and Kali and Meg compared summer conquests (Meg told of stealing mens’ virginities, which of course meant she had loyal puppies to buy things for her all summer, and Kali told of scamming people out of their money, stepping on others to reach the top, and all the money that came with that), Dean grilled Jo for information.

“So. Anna. Hot for a ginger. Haven’t seen her before.” And this was rare, their tiny high school in South Dakota didn’t get a lot of newbies. “Details?”

Jo laughed. “Oh Dean, sweetheart, hell no. Don’t even think about it.”

“Why not? Not like she’s out of my league.” Dean smirked. No one was out of his league, as far as he was concerned.

“Well, let’s ignore your giant ball of love for yourself and proceed to the part where if you so much as look at that girl the wrong way, you’ll be three kinds of dead meat.”

“Do tell.”

Jo sighed. “Anna has six brothers. One twin, four older, one younger. Gabriel’s a theatre kid and the psychotic side of lawful evil. He will fuck you up in a poetic justice sort of way. Then there’s Castiel, who I’m pretty sure is a black belt, Uriel, who is as big as a bouncer and professionally kick-boxes, and their cousin Balthazar, who will hack everything you love and arrange it so your car is put on a one-way flight to Mongolia.” Jo said with a smile. “Not to mention the legal adults. Michael will psychoanalyze you until you sob like a seven year old girl, then kill you and make it look like an accident. And Raphael, god, he’ll probably scrape every appendage off your body, starting with your dick; he’s a bit of a twisted guy. Oh, and there’s also their brother Lucifer. And I’ll let you imagine what he’s capable of.”

Dean raised an eyebrow. “Gabriel, Cassiel, Uriel, Balcazar, Michael, Raphael and Lucifer? So… are we talking a family of teenage mutant ninja turtles?”

She glared at him. “Firstly, dumbass, it’s Castiel and Balthazar. Secondly, those are names of angels, not artists. Didn’t you go to Sunday school or some shit?”

“Yeah, like I paid any attention to that white supremacist bigotted crap.” Dean said, rolling his eyes. “Angels? Really?”

“Yeah, their family is super religious. Like, they have so many crucifixes you’d think they have a blood fetish.”

“And you know this because…?”

Jo did that thing where she gave him a look that was half condescension, half spite. He’d been getting it since they were six. “Because some asshat went off with his uncle and his brother all summer and left me by myself in the middle of nowhere, South Dakota. The Novaks moved in next door. They were all I had to entertain me.” Jo had a sort of look about her, one Dean knew very well. It could only mean one thing.

“So, which one didja screw?” 

She blushed about twenty shades of red. “God, Dean! No one! Get your head out of the gutter.”

“Mmm-hmmm.” He winked at her. “So there’s no one you want to get with in this little angelic clan? Uriel get your heart all skippy?”

Jo shoved him playfully. “Shut up.”

————-

By the time he got home that night, he was exhausted. He was taking some pretty shitty classes this year; english, spanish, and us history were all going to kick his ass. Thank god for the garage. His school was implementing this system so that even the idiots could find a skill they could hone and actually do something with their lives other than prostitues and jail time. And working on cars was probably something he was just naturally engineered to do, he just kind of knew how to work ‘em.

By friday, he was tired and overwhelmed with homework he had yet to do. Thankfully, one of the seniors, Lilly or Lillian or something, was having a party and Meg had snagged some invites. All Dean wanted was some beers and a hook-up, and knowing him, he’d get ‘em. Friday afternoon, after school, he picked Sam up from one of his bazillion extra-curriculars (jesus, it was only the first week of school, did the kid want to kill himself or something?) and then showered and put on his favorite black shirt and a leather jacket. After checking himself out in the mirror for an appropriately short amount of time so it was still manly, he got in the Impala and drove over to Jo’s.

After knocking on the door twice, he just let himself in. He had a key, and Jo and Ellen were basically family. He walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge, looking for a soda, when he received a hard smack across the head. He turned around to see Ellen standing in front of him, hands on her hips and looking eerily like her daughter.

“Ow, Jesus, Ellen, what the hell?”

“Dean Winchester. It has been almost two weeks since you got back and I have not heard word one from you. I thought maybe you forgot where we lived, or how to operate a damn phone, but thank the lord, you still know how to filch our food.” She glared down at him. “Come here, you idiot.”

She wrapped him up in a hug, which he comfortably sighed into. Ellen at this point was basically a second mother. He had been coming to visit her since he was six, and ever since he moved to South Dakota, he had spent almost as much time at her house as he did at Bobby’s. She was frank, irritable, and didn’t take no for an answer, or any kind of excuse for that matter. She was Dean’s favorite woman.

“My daughter’s upstairs. And please tell her that if she comes down in another belt trying to be a skirt, I’ll lock her up there.”

“Yes ma’am.” Dean gave a mock salute, then raced upstairs.

He knocked on Jo’s door, just in case she was naked or something, to which she grunted permission.

“JoAnna Beth, I do believe your mother thinks you to be a harlot, not a Harvelle.” He smiled, and flopped on her bed. She was wearing some jeans, thankfully, because Dean really didn’t want to deal with a classic Harvelle mother/daughter battle.

“Ugh, cannot wait to go to college and be as whorey as I want.” She said, pulling her low cut black tank-top even lower.

Dean groaned. “Please never say that again. I get strange punchy feelings when I think of you in college surrounded by men with roofies.”

“God, you’re as bad as her.” She said, throwing a sock at his face. “Hey, do you mind if we give Anna a ride? All of her brothers who can drive can’t take her.”

Dean sat up and raised an eyebrow. “Does she have a dog? Will she puke in the backseat?”

“Dean, she doesn’t drink, for one, and for another, why would she bring a dog to the party?”

“There will be NO DOGS OF ANY KIND IN THE IMPALA.” He said in what he hoped was a threatening and authoritative voice.

“You sound like Batman.” Jo said with a mocking frown.

“Oh, shut up and let’s go.”

————-

Dean had never thought Jo had next door neighbors. Their house had a road on one side, a small forest of trees on the other, in which Dean and Jo had been playing since they met. Turns out that forest was actually part of the property next door, and if you went down the street a ways, you arrived at a huge black iron gate. Luckily, it was unlocked and opened, so Dean drove the Impala down a long gravel road and stopped in front of the Novak’s home.

Which was freaking _huge._ A big white house with at least three floors and balconies or terraces or whatever and freakin’ columns.

Dean felt like he needed a suit just to sit on the lawn. He was perfectly happy sitting in the Impala, but Jo insisted he come with her, since Anna had said she would be a while and invited the two of them inside.

“Hey Dean.” She said with a smile that Dean was very used to, the kind of smile that said I-have-a-huge-freaking-crush-on-you. Which was very understandable. What? He was supposed to go through life pretending he didn’t know he was hot? Please. “Want anything? We’ve got it all, from lots of meat for Lucifer to tofu and vegetable chips for Michael.”

“I’m…good, thanks.” Dean said, looking around the massive living room with a giant t.v., a huge leather couch, and what looked like pretty much every video game operating system in existence  “Anna, sorry for asking, but what do your parents do?”

“Oh.” She looked around and seemed a bit embarrassed by all of her possessions  “My mother died when I was a baby. Father is the head of an international company. We don’t see him often, but he does buy us anything we want, so that’s nice, I guess.” It seemed like such a sad thing to say, but she smiled brightly as she said it, so Dean supposed she was chill with the whole absent father thing. 

“Oh.” He didn’t really have anything else to say.

“Jo, would you mind helping me pick an outfit for tonight? I don’t go to parties a lot…” Anna looked down sheepishly.

“Say no more.” Jo said with a smile.

“Great! My room’s upstairs. Dean, do you want to wait here?”

“Sure, I’m comfy.” He said, slowly sitting down on their couch.

He was considering whether he should put his feet on the coffee table (he decided not to, since that would probably result in like three hundred dollars worth of damage) as well as looking around the relatively empty room with vases full of lillies or orchids or some kind of flower type things, when he heard a voice from behind him.

“Anna, have you seen my- Oh. You are not my sister.”

Dean tried not to jump in alarm, and kind of succeed, though he did make a bit of a yelping noise.  Whoever this guy was, he sure could sneak up on a person. He looked up and- whoops. That was a _lot_ of shirtless man standing in front of him. Dean was currently facing a guy with crazy sex hair that was still dripping, blue eyes that were unnaturally bright, and a lean yet muscled chest. Wearing only a towel. Little beads of water still trailing his body. If Dean weren’t so straight he’d probably have jumped the guy, because come on, he was about as attractive as it got.

“Uhh…” Oh good going Dean. Well said.

“Hello Dean. Apologies, I thought you were Anna.”

“Uh, no. Sorry.” He smiled as if he hadn’t just been memorizing the shape of the guy’s hip bones. Which he totally hadn’t. He looked up a the guy’s face, which was not much better, what with those eyes he swore could see into his soul. “Wait… how do you know my name?”

The guy in front of him titled his head with an expression of extreme confusion. “We have two classes together.”

Shit.

“Oh yeah! Sure, um…” Dean stopped. Who the hell was this guy?

“Castiel.”

“Huh?”

“It’s my name. Castiel. You were attempting to recall it.”

THIS was Castiel? The bookish nerdy brother Anna complained about? The one who never left the library? He looked more like an underwear model than a bookworm. And Anna had said he was still sixteen. No way was Dean older than this guy, he looked so old, and his voice was really deep. Like, in a made-for-phone-sex kind of way. Dean struggled and reminded himself that recognizing another male as attractive was very different from being attracted to said male, and, confident in his sexuality, felt able to respond. “Yeah, sorry dude. I never really pay attention in class.”

“Hmm.” Castiel looked at him, and Dean felt like the boy was using that one look to figure out every single fact about Dean and amass information on every thing Dean had ever done ever. It was weird. “Ah. Yes. I might have guessed as much, you often sleep through History.”

“Uh. Yeah. Uh, dude. Why the partial nudity?”

Castiel looked down, as if just realizing he was standing half naked in front of some guy he didn’t know. “Oh. My brother Gabriel’s idea of humor is not as developed as I would have hoped; he seems to have stolen all of my clothing while I was in the shower.”

“Wow, that sucks.”

Castiel nodded in agreement, and, hopefully to end Dean’s painfully evident discomfort, walked back up the stairs.

Maybe five minutes passed before Dean heard thundering footsteps race down the stairs and before he could fully process what was going on, a huge ball of fabric flew onto the couch, heavier than he would have expected as it fell beside him. 

“What the hell?” Dean jumped up as the ball _moved_. 

“Sorry, man.” Someone said, and Dean looked around for the source of it, before he realized that the ball of fabric was a _person_. Just, in a lot of scarves and some crazy-ass pants. The guy wrapped inside the fabric shook out his hair as he stood up, looking to Dean like some sort of hipster genie.

“Gabriel.” Castiel came down the stairs and glared at the genie. Thankfully he had put on a grey v-neck and some jeans. “That wasn’t funny.”

“Maybe not to you.” Said the genie, who Dean supposed was called Gabriel; which made him Anna’s twin brother, and suddenly all her rants about her crazy brother who was constantly hopped up on glucose made sense. “The rest of your underwear is in Michael’s room, by the way.”

Castiel groaned and stomped back up the stairs. The geni-Gabriel turned to Dean. “Who are you?”

“Dean.”

Gabriel’s face lit up. “Ohhh. You’re the Dean. The James Dean. Jimmy boy. Can I call you Jimmy?”

“No.” Dean said, wondering what the hell kind of high this guy was riding, or whether he just needed shit-tons of Ritalin.

“Too bad. Hey, you know you’re not allowed to bone my sister, right?”

“What?!” Dean said, choking on nothing as the short rainbow hipster genie laughed at him.

“Kidding dude. But she’s a pretty redhead, and I don’t trust guys like you. So fuck with my twin and not only will it be like you’re getting with me,” He paused for a moment to let that sink into Dean’s head, “But I, along with five other brothers and a crafty cousin, will seriously fuck you up.”

“So, basically, stay far away?”

“Four for you, Glen Coco!” Gabriel said with a smile.

“It’s Dean.” 

And for some reason that made Gabriel laugh so hard he cried, as Dean wondered how the hell Anna and Castiel lived with this kid. Thankfully, at that moment Anna and Jo came down the stairs. Anna looked really pretty, Jo did her job well. But Dean was so relieved to get away from the crazy genie he hardly noticed. “You guys ready?” He jumped up from the couch.

“Yeah, sure…” Anna smiled at her twin “You coming?”

Oh sweet lord no.

“Nah, Cassie and I are marathoning it up tonight. All the X-men movies.”

Anna smiled. “Mm-hmm. And does Castiel know about this?”

Gabriel gave the single most maniacal smirk Dean had ever seen and said “Nah, but it’s not like he’ll have any other means of occupying his time.”

“Laptop?”

“Yes’m.”

“Where?”

“Somewhere on the roof, honestly I wasn’t really paying attention.”

Anna sighed. “Well, don’t blame me if he throws away all your candy.” She gestured towards the door and the three of them gave Gabriel little half waves.

“Like he would dare!” Gabriel called to the trio as they left the house.

By the time they got to the senior’s party (Lilith’s, actually. What was with all the freaky names this year?) Dean was so ready to lose all his stress in a red cup. And when he finally left around one with a gorgeous girl in the passenger seat, it only bothered him the slightest bit that her eyes were the wrong shade of blue. Not that he’d ever admit it.


	2. In Which a Bond is Formed

Dean hated group projects. True, sometimes he got paired up with some pretty girl, and hey, any excuse for some alone time, right? But too often he got paired with a Mathlete or some dumbass quarterback who expected Dean to do all the work and that sucked ass. He had hoped for no unpleasant groupings this year, but as all the cheerleaders paired up with each other or their boyfriends, Dean was left with two options: Garth, the scrawny kid who thought he was the second coming of James Brown, and Becky, a tiny blonde with an unhealthy addiction to fanfiction. She caught his eye and Dean flashed back to sophomore year, when he had made it his mission to hook up with every girl in the freshman class. He had flirted with Becky once, and bam, he had been subjected to almost an hour of ranting about shipping (not the fedex kind), and the eternal love that apparently existed between Kirk and Spock, Sherlock and John, and Magneto and Professor X (which Dean could definitely see, he had enough experience with eyesex to recognize it, even between two dudes). Dean’s heart raced.  _God no, not her, I promise I’ll - I’ll cook more for Sammy, not complain about his extracurriculars, just not the little fangirl that could-_

“Would you like to work together?”

Dean felt a hand on his shoulder and spun on his heel to face Castiel, who was standing behind him and who Dean had, once again, neglected to notice was in his class. Still, the nerdy boy in the v-neck was Dean’s savior. “Hell yes!” Dean said, trying to convey his gratitude wordlessly.

Becky turned, disappointed, back to Garth, who was tapping out a drumbeat on his binder.

Castiel’s eyes crinkled in amusement at Dean, who muttered, “I mean, well, yeah, thanks man. She’s a nice girl, but I really didn’t want to be trapped in the Hell that is Becky’s conversation skills.” It had been a week since they last spoke, and Dean was not happy to admit that his eyes were just as captivatingly blue as they had been before. 

Castiel chuckled as they sat down across from each other. ”I understand. Becky’s lovely, but comes on a bit strong with her pamphlets about homoerotic subtext and profound bonds.”

Dean shuddered “She has pamphlets now? That’s some fifth level shit.”

“While I doubt working with Becky is equivalent to eternal damnation, I am happy to be the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition.” 

“Why do you talk like that?” Dean said, before he could stop himself.

But Castiel didn’t look offended, simply confused as he tilted his head to the side. “I don’t understand your question.”

“I dunno man, like you were raised by a dictionary in the 1800s. Anna doesn’t talk like that.”

“Ah. In my life, I have been very isolated from the company of those outside my family. And as I frequently had trouble relating to the rest of my siblings, I would often sit away in my room, alone, and read the classic texts my mother had owned. I see no reason to adapt the language I’ve adopted to make my classmates more comfortable.” Cas finished, tone not accusing, like Dean had offended him, but flat like he was simply stating facts. he sure was a strange kid.

Dean kind of liked it. “So, this project thing. I was thinking we could do some brainstorming after school. Where do you wanna meet up?”

“My house has plenty of room, If you’d like to work there.” 

“Will your sister be home?” Castiel nodded. Dean really didn’t feel like being followed around by the girl, even if he knew she was dating some senior jock. He was pretty sure she still had a crush on him, and that wasn’t something he really felt like dealing with at the moment. “Um, then, maybe we should meet at mine. Lemme give you the address.”

Castiel tilted his head, which Dean knew well enough to recognize as confusion, but said nothing as Dean ripped a piece of paper out of his notebook and scribbled out Bobby’s address. “I’ve got off-season training after school, then I gotta pick up my little brother from debate or something at 5:30, but anytime after that’s cool.”

Castiel nodded and neatly folded the paper and tucked it into his pocket. They sat there in silence before Dean felt more than a bit uncomfortable and said “Well, I guess I’ll see you later then.” He nodded at Cas, but the younger boy just kept freaking looking at him, which Dean had to excuse because he’d probably be socially inept too, if he had spent his childhood reading by himself.

——————-

“So, how’s the mystery girl, Sammy boy?”

“It’s Sam, and I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“It’s Sammy, and come on. You’ve got that same look you had when you were eight and met that chick, um, Amy! Yeah, Amy. And you went on and on about her hair, her voice, her eyes, her Hotwheels collection…”

Dean’s little brother shot him bitchface #14, which Dean had labeled bring-up-my-childhood-and-face-my-wrath. Which was just oh-so-terrifying on his tiny freshman face. Dean grinned and turned into Bobby’s driveway.

“Who is that?” Sam sat up in the Impala’s seat.

Dean grinned. “That, Sammy, is our very own angel of the Lord.”

Castiel stood, straight as a board, on their porch. He was wearing this tan trenchcoat that seemed a bit too big for him but like it had been well loved. Dean parked the car and shut off the ignition.

“You’re funny, Dean.” Sam frowned and opened the door, following Dean to the house.

“Hey Cas. Funny seeing you here.” Dean said with a smirk.

But Castiel, of course, did not pick up on the sarcasm, and titled his head again. “We had an appointment.”

“Yeah, sorry, are we late?” He took out his key and opened the door to Bobby’s, letting both Sam and Cas in.

“No, I had nothing of import to do so I came over around 5.”

“Shit, man, sorry, did I not say that Sam got out at 5:30?”

Cas stood in their living room, looking sufficiently awkward. “No, you mentioned that.”

“So… you knew you were going to have to wait, but you came around anyway and… stood…on my porch, for half an hour.”

“It was no trouble.”

Dean examined the kid in the trenchcoat. “You’re kind of a freak, you know that? Like, the good kind of freak, but still a freak.”

Cas’ eyes shined a little, and his mouth almost turned upwards. As close as Dean was gonna get to a smile right now, and it made him kind of proud to see it. Dean must have been smiling at the kid for a while, because pretty soon Sam cleared his throat in that way he only does when he’s interrupting Dean while he’s trying to flirt. Which Dean immediately disregarded. Cas just liked to stare at people, that’s all.

“Oh yeah, sorry man. This is my little brother, Sam. Straight A student and about as nerdy as it gets, but we’ll overlook that.”

“Nice to meet you Sam. My name is Castiel.”

“Oh, that’s why Dean called you an angel of the lord. Angel of Thursday, right?”

“That’s right.” Cas did that almost smile thing. “I’ve never met anyone who knew that angel before. Are you well-versed in theology?”

“Nah, not really. My mom… well, Dean says she used to really like angels, so I’ve always liked reading about them.”

Dean hadn’t known that. He smiled at his little brother, then told him to get a snack or something, and that he and Cas would be up in Dean’s room. And because Sam was a Winchester, he shouted “Use protection!” up the stairs as the two of them walked away. Dean rolled his eyes and gave Cas a ‘whadya gonna do’ gesture and opened the door to his room.

It wasn’t too messy, as bedrooms of teenage boys went, but there were some clothes strewn across the floor and some books piled messily on his dresser, so he murmured ”Sorry about the mess,”

“This is not nearly as bed as my brother Michael’s room. He has no regard for the well-being of his possessions or general organization. This is fine.”

“Cool.” Dean gestured for Cas to sit, so the boy perched on the edge of the mattress, history textbook in hand.

“So. History,”

Cas looked up at him. “Yes.”

“Umm..” Dean trailed off, looking down at the textbook in his lap. “Gotta say, I have no idea what we could do to take up a ten minute powerpoint presentation with artifacts. You got anything?”

“I don’t have any pre-revolutionary artifacts in my posession, no.”

“Jeez-” Dean sighed, “I meant if you had any ideas. You know, about what to do?” Cas opened his mouth “But you know what? I am just not in the mood for any of this history shit, and we’ve got two weeks on this thing. You like Back to the Future?”

“I don’t understand the question.” Cas tilted his head and Dean shoved the word ‘adorable” out of his head.

“Would you like to watch Back to the Future with me and Sammy? We’re having a marathon.” Dean smiled and pushed the tiny thought in the back of his mind that this felt a bit like asking him out on a date.

“Oh, so… it’s a television show?”

“You-” Dean stared at the dark haired boy across from him in disbelief. “Oh hell no. I am not letting you go through your entire highschool career without having seen Back to the Future. “

“I’m not sure I should, I mean I don’t want to impose..”

“Nah, dude, it’s fine, we have Jo and Ash and tons of people over here all the time. One nerdy guy in a trenchcoat is fine.”

“I… I don’t think I’ll have time.” 

“What, you got some huge kegger to go to?” Dean felt guilty that he had thought this guy would have nothing to do but sit in Dean’s living room and watch old 80s movies with him and his 13 year old brother.

Cas gave him an exasperated look. “No, I just… I have homework to do tonight, and-“

“Dude. It’s a Friday.”

Cas sighed. “I suppose… I’ll call my brother and let him know. He would’ve most likely forced me to watch Flapjack again… he says it speaks to him on an emotional level.”

Dean shuddered as Cas pulled his cellphone from his pocket and held down on the of the speed-dial buttons. As Cas talked he heard something sounding suspiciously like ‘awww, did cassie make a friend?’ before Cas hung up without a word.

“So, popcorn?”

——————-

Cas actually rather enjoyed Back to the Future, and Dean had him watch all three movies. Cas and Sam actually got along rather well, and Bobby seemed to approve of the nerdy boy. Cas came over the next day at Dean’s bequest for an Arrested Development marathon, at which Cas laughed. Six times. Dean considered it a huge accomplishment. Cas came over on Sunday as well.  And the day after that. And everyday until the project was due. Soon, Cas started staying later. Dean introduced him to Star Wars, Monty Python, and Dr. Sexy (“you must never speak of this to anyone”). Cas in return brought over the only movies he had ever seen, including Dogma, which he said he had hidden under his bed because of its sacrilegious characters and ideas. It turned out to be hilarious, and they discussed the accuracy of it for almost an hour afterwards.Soon, Sam and Cas bonded over political theory and classic literature, while Bobby showed the kid how to work on a car, and Dean tried not to be too possessive  because hey, Cas was his friend first. Over time, Cas started helping Dean with his homework, and Dean didn’t notice, but Cas’ language became less stiff, less formal.

And eventually, they became best friends. Complete with inside jokes, friendly arguments, the whole nine yards. Cas, for some reason, found Dean’s crude jokes, constant swearing, and snarky attitude endearing, and Dean really liked Cas’ strange sense of humor, little eccentricities, and nerdy quietness. He especially enjoyed introducing him to the wonders of pop culture references. But no one really knew about it. During lunch and other free times at school, Cas went to the library or worked on the other extra-curriculars. He never hung out with Dean’s friends, and he never really mentioned him to the other people, though he occasionally brought up something hilarious the younger boy had said while his friends gave him weird looks. Guess not everyone understood Cas’ humor. Soon, however, Dean decided it was time for a change. He didn’t like feeling like Cas was some dirty little secret he kept away from half of the people that were important to him. That just didn’t sit right. So sometime around early October, he organized a movie marathon at Bobby’s.

“Scary movies, dude. Hours and hours. Gotta get in the Halloween Spirit.” Dean sat on Bobby’s porch, whittling. What? That was a thing. People… whittled.”It’s gonna be awesome.”

“You don’t need to convince me, Dean.” Cas said from his position across from him, where he was reading a little green novel.

“Awesome! I’ll tell the gang.”

“The… gang?” Cas looked up at him and did that weird head-tilty thing of his.

“Yeah,” Dean gulped. No time to back out now. “You know, Jo, Ash, Meg, Chuck, Lisa, they’re all coming over.”

“Oh.” Cas looked back down at the book in his lap. “No, that’s okay. You.. don’t have to do that.”

“Do what? Invite my friends?” Great. He thought they were all freaks. Or violent criminals. Or-

“Invite me.” Oh. “You don’t have to feel obligated…”

“And if I’m inviting you because I want to invite you?” Cas opened his mouth to speak but he cut him off. “Look, you’re like, my best friend. Second only to maybe Jo, but she’s like my sister. I want you to get along with my other friends.”

Cas sighed and went back to his book, which Dean knew was ‘fine, but I don’t like this’ in Cas language, so he called it a win. He went back to whittling, whistling as he did so.

——————-

That Saturday night, Jo came over early to help him set up. “Brought some movies!” She smiled at him from Bobby’s porch and held up some DVDs.

“Why JoAnna Beth, why don’t you come right on in, you’ll catch your death out there in that cold.” Dean said with a wave of his hand in what maybe passed for a southern accent.

“You are the weirdest person I’ve ever met, you know that?”

“Mm-hmm. So, I got popcorn, soda, pie from your mom, no alcohol or Bobby will skin me alive…. ya think we should order some pizza?” The two of them flopped onto the old dust-colored couch.

“Sure, but not ‘till later. We got all night, remember?”

“Yeah, okay. You know if anyone can’t make it?” 

She stretched out, laying her head across his legs and putting her feet up on the side of the couch. “Nope. Though Chuck is bringing Becky.”

“Ugh, why?”

“Oh, I dunno Dean, probably because they’re friends. They’re both in the D&D club.”

“Oh good. We can talk about how every character in these movies,” He tapped the stack of various horror, thriller, and gorey movies he had stacked on the coffee table. “Is secretly gay for their best friend.”

Jo laughed. “Sounds like a good time to me.”

“Hey, speaking of which, Cas is gonna be a bit late.”

“Who?” Jo looked up at him.

“Cas. He’s coming over.”

“You mean Castiel?” Jo sat up. “Since when do you call him ‘Cas’? No one calls him ‘Cas’. And would you mind explaining why the phrase ‘secretly gay’ reminded you of Castiel?”

“What? No! The best friend part. God, Jo, not like that.”

“The best friend part?” Jo narrowed her eyes. “Dean, I think you have a bit of explaining to do about ‘ _Cas_ ’ and your new magical friendship.”

Dean frowned. “There’s nothing to explain. We had a history project together. We became friends. He’s cool and I want you guys to get to know ‘im. In a few years we plan to ride off into the sunset on a rainbow cloud and destroy the one ring. Happy?”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” She said, but she looked at him with a strange expression on her face.

“Awesome. So, I’m thinking we gotta end with the Shining, get everyone nice and scared before they go home.”

“Your hair looks weird.”

“What?” Dean raised a hand to it. “Wait, what’s wrong with it?”

“It looks better than normal. Did you… comb it?”

“I always comb it.” He scoffed. He just happened to have worked with it a bit longer than usual today. What? He had some extra time, okay?

“You never comb it, actually. You’ve been afraid of things touching your hair since I met you. Eleven years ago.”

“Well, I comb it now.” Dean huffed, then re-stacked the DVDs. Which he had already done. Twice. But thankfully Jo chose not to comment on that.

——————-

About an hour later, all of Dean’s friends, save one, were currently raiding the fridge and chatting loudly. Sam had promised to stay out of the way and hidden himself away in his room with some new video game, Bobby had merely walked through the living room as the teenagers stared at him in scared silence. He eyed them all, one by one, then cocked the shotgun in his hands, and stomped upstairs; which was enough to discourage even the bravest of men from staining the carpet with soda. Most of the people had been there for at least twenty minutes, but Dean held off on starting the movie. He didn’t want Cas to miss anything.

Jo was eyeing him from the couch, which Dean felt was extremely off-putting. She was the only one actually talking to Becky; Chuck was poring over Ash’s laptop and Kali still had a grudge against the tiny blonde for some chic drama Dean really didn’t want to get into right now. Kali, Lisa and Meg were all gossiping animatedly in the kitchen (which Dean would have made a comment about, but it would only serve to make guys laugh a bit and Jo punch him in the arm for being a sexist bastard, so that was out) Dean surveyed the group with a bit of apprehension. He hoped they got along with Cas. He wasn’t the easiest guy to get used to, but under all that nerdy weirdness there was this really awesome guy, who he hoped wouldn’t get frightened by the lunatics Dean associated with and decide never to speak to him again. Not that Cas would do that, though.

He wouldn’t, right?

Before Dean had time to properly freak out about that possibility, however, there was a knock at the door. The room went quiet as all but two of its inhabitants looked around, wondering who was missing. Dean made his way to the door and opened it to reveal Cas in all his trenchcoaty glory on the front porch, looking all kinds of awkward.

“Hello, Dean. I hope I’m not too late.” Cas smiled and walked into the room. He was doing that a lot now; that whole smiling thing. Dean was proud. “Have I missed much of the horror?”

“Nah, dude, we haven’t even started yet.” Dean led him into the living room where Jo had, bless her angry blonde soul, started up another conversation so that not every eye in the room was on Cas. Dean had a feeling the younger boy might just turn tail and sprint right out the door in such a situation.

“Guys, you know Castiel.” He gestured to the group around the couch. “Cas, this is Ash, Jo, who you’ve met, Becky, of course, and Chuck.”

Cas murmured a ‘nice to meet you’ then turned to Chuck. “I admire your work.”

“My…” Chuck gave him a confused expression.

“Yes, your short stories? My sister, Anna, had some poems published in the same book you did. They were quite amusing.”

“Oh, I’m glad you liked them,” Chuck squeaked, then awkwardly gave a little wave to Cas and went back to whatever Ash was showing him on his giant-ass laptop. Something to do with buses. Or something.

“Right, you want something to eat?” Dean clapped his hands together in what had to be the stupidest gesture of host hospitality he’d ever made, but Cas didn’t seem to notice or mind.

“A soda would be nice, if you have one.” Cas slid his trenchcoat off and placed it on the coat rack Bobby had next to the door that no one but Cas had ever used for actual coats in the entirety of its, like, twenty years of existence.

“Sure, c’mon.” They walked over to the kitchen. “Ladies.” Dean nodded to the cheerleader and the drama queen. “Where’s our favorite whore?”

Kali rolled her eyes. “God, could you be more of a hypocrite? Anyway, she’s in the bathroom.”

“Oh, I hope she’s not snorting anything,” Which earned him another eye roll and a sigh of exasperation, to which he just smirked in return. “Anyway, Cas, Lisa and Kali, Lisa and Kali, this is Castiel Novak. He lives next door to Jo.”

“Oh, we’re old friends.” Kali smiled at Cas, then in response to Dean’s expression of confusion, added: “Jo invited me over this summer to the Novaks’ for a pool party. Castiel here looks nice wet.” She winked at Cas, but he didn’t react. Knowing Cas he probably thought her eye was twitching or something.

As Cas turned and leaned over to grab a soda out of the fridge, Meg came through the doorway. “Winchester, your damn house is confusing as-” She stopped, and Dean rolled his eyes frustratedly, since at the moment hers were glued to Cas’ ass. Hey, that rhymed. “He-llo.” She purred as he straightened up and turned to face her.

“Oh, hello. My name is Castiel.”

“Whoo,” She exhaled with a smile. “Front view’s even better. Never seen you before, blue eyes. Must have been hiding.” She smirked and sashayed over to him, eyes raking over his dark blue v-neck that clung to his defined body a little more than Dean would ever admit to noticing. “Where have you been all my life?”

“In a cupboard, under some stairs.” Cas said so monotone no one but Dean got the reference, and he let out a little bark of a laugh. Part of Cas’ popculture reference instruction had included the wonders of youtube. Dean shot Cas a proud smile, the nerdy boy had come far.

“Hem” Dean cleared his throat and pushed Cas towards the living room. “Down girl.” He muttered to Meg, and she shot him a withering glare. “All right, losers,” He called to the living room of people. “What’s say we get this marathon started?”

——————-

The evening went rather well. Cas’ deadpan humor quickly endeared him to Jo, who had never really interacted with him without his siblings around. He quickly adjusted himself to the dynamic of their group and by the time they were finished with the movie, Dean knew his friends had welcomed Cas into the folds with open arms. And sure, Meg watched Cas with a predatory look a little more than Dean would’ve liked, and maybe Jo gave him one too many suspicious glances to be strictly normal, but other than that he rated it a huge success. A few school days after that Dean convinced Cas to eat with the group, to which Anna raised a questioning eyebrow but said nothing, simply smiling at her little brother from across the table. Soon enough, Gabriel followed his twin and baby brother to their lunch table, which was confusing at first but no one really minded. Jo bonded with Anna, which was the tiniest bit worrying to Dean, as he always got a foreboding feeling around those two, and Gabriel just kind of annoyed everyone, but he got along with Ash well, which surprised no one, and the Novaks seamlessly entered their group. Except for Uriel, that is. No one really talked to Uriel, though he and Gordon made a terrifying pair that Dean was more than happy to stay far, far away from. By mid-October, the family of angels had fully integrated into their tiny school.

Dean went through girlfriend after girlfriend with Cas by his side, who tried to force some morality into him every time Dean dumped another girl, or hooked up with someone and lost their number, or forgot their name. Cas was especially upset with him after he hooked up with Anna in his car, but hey, they both knew it was rebound sex, so no shame in having a good time, right? After each hook-up, Dean would place a slip of paper, maybe with the girl’s number on it, maybe with just her name scrawled in his sloppy script, into a little jar he kept under his bed. More than once Cas threatened to light the whole thing on fire. Dean laughed it off every time, but (and if ever confronted he’d deny it) it kind of got through to him, just a little. He began to put a little more effort into being nicer to girls. Sure was nice because he didn’t get slapped as much as before Cas had come along. As means of expressing his gratitude, Dean tried relentlessly to hook Cas up with girls from school, but the younger boy always refused.

“Dude, you need to get out more.” Dean called to him one afternoon, as he lie on the floor of Cas’ giant bedroom. “Actually, scratch that. You need to get laid.”

“And if I don’t want to?”

“C’mon, Cas, you can’t just go through life alone with your books. Go out, find yourself a nice girl.”

Cas chuckled and flipped the page of the black paperback he was reading. “And how do you suggest I go about finding one that you haven’t slept with, abandoned, and who doesn’t now hate me by extension?”

Dean threw his head back in a laugh. “There’s always Canada.” He winked at Cas.

“I’m serious, Dean. Not to mention all the girls you’ve had me end things with  _for_  you.”

“Okay, you had to admit that Amber, the one who did archery? She was most definitely a serial killer.”

“So you sent  _me_  to anger and hurt her. Flawless plan.” Cas rolled his eyes and tutted, flipping another page.

“You bet your ass,” Dean reached over and yanked the book out of Cas’ protesting hands. “Good Omens?” He flipped it over and scanned the description. “Dude, what is it with you and books about Angels and Demons?”

“God, I don’t know, maybe because I’m named after one, assbutt!” He pulled the book out of Dean’s hands as Dean rolled around in hysterical laughter at the phrase ‘assbutt’. Cas had the strangest way of insulting people. “And anyway, I have a cousin whose name is Crowley, who is also the main Demon in this book. I find it entertaining to imagine him in the role.”

“Oh that’s-” Dean stopped and propped himself up on his elbows. “You’re totally changing the subject! Oh, I can spot it from a mile away, you’re trying to distract me with your weirdo family!”

“I don’t know what you mean.” Cas stood up and stepped over Dean to get to his iPod which lay in an overpriced speaker he had received for his birthday from Gabriel. 

“Of course you don’t. Listen, Gabriel is having a huge party here on Halloween. Your own house, dude, and everyone is gonna be there. Perfect opportunity for a little naked-time.” Dean called, then wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“Could you be more crude?” Cas rolled his eyes and flicked through his songs. “I am officially drowning you out with music I know you hate.” He pressed play and turned up the volume.

Dean groaned as a repetitive chord echoed through the room. “Oh, god, dude, that’s just cruel.” He listened to the lyrics for a second, then flopped back onto the carpet. “Twist and Shout? Really? What is wrong with you? Why can’t you like any good music? Or to be specific, my music?”

Cas laughed. “Sorry, I can’t hear you, but I think I found one you’ll like even better than that.” A slow guitar rang throughout the room and Dean prepared himself for the pain. And oh god, did it have to be Elvis?

_Wise men say only fools rush in. But I can’t help falling in love with you._

“Oh my god, Cas.” Dean glared at the smirking boy over the slow drawl of the King’s voice. “I hope you die a slow, painful death.”


	3. In Which There are Misunderstandings

“Dean, I really don’t think this is going to work.”

Dean looked over the edge of Cas’ bed, at the boy leaning against the side. “You think we should have given her more money? I mean, sewing can’t be  _that_  hard.”

“No, not that. Anna said she’d be happy to sew the costume. That isn’t the plan I was referring to.” Cas sighed. “Dean, I can’t do this. I can’t - I don’t know how to accomplish this seduction.”

“Oh, is widdle Cassie afraid of talking to girls?” Dean called mockingly from the bed.

“I will kill you, you know.” Cas frowned up at the laughing boy. “Slowly and painfully. With knives.”

“Come on, Cas.” Dean sat up and slung his legs over the edge of the bed. “You talk to our girls all the time.”

“But that’s Jo, and Kali, and I’m not trying to seduce them!” Cas ran a hand through his hair. “How exactly do you propose I go about convincing women to let me…” He blushed, and didn’t continue, gaze frozen on the book in his lap.

“Do a horizontal tango?” Dean smirked. “Dude, it’s easy. Just you know, flirt a little. Turn on the charm.”

“Oh thank you so much, that’s so helpful. Did it perhaps ever cross your mind that I can’t flirt? That I have no charm? At all?”

“Aw, come on.” Dean said, giving him a little punch on the arm. “You got those big blue puppy-dog eyes, the sex hair, the occasional stubble- what girl could resist?” And  _whoah_  was that a gay thing to say. Where the hell did that come from?

Cas looked down, luckily not commenting on the gayness. “But what if I… do something to embarass myself?”

Dean examined his friend’s blushing face. He looked genuinely afraid of doing something to shame himself in front of the female population of their school. He sighed, trying to think of a way to help him. “Oh, god, I’m going to have to help you, aren’t I?”

”Well, yes, that would be your role here as my only best friend, Dean.”

“All right, then, Cas, and if you ever speak to anyone of this, I will make you eat your own bone marrow. But pretend I’m a girl you like. Flirt with me.” Dean climbed off the bed and onto the floor across from Cas. 

“Excuse me?”

“Look.” Dean sighed. “I’m the only person that’s gonna be honest with you here. Your brothers and sister will mock you, our friends will make it weird and give you false reassurances, I’m your only option.” He could do this, it was something guys did for their best friends all the time. Right?

“Dean, that’s truly not necessary.”

“Shut up and pretend I’ve got a rack, and make it a big one, I’ve got some dignity, you know.” Dean sat down on the bed. “Just remember, compliments, eye contact, and be funny. Or…” Dean considered Cas. “As close to funny as you’re able to get.”

Cas took a breath and looked him straight in the eye. “ _HelloIfindyouquiteattractivewouldyouliketogosomewherewithmeandpossiblykiss_?” Cas started, before Dean burst into hysterical laughter. “Oh thank you, Dean, so much, I’m so glad you’re helping me so no one MOCKS me, you ass.” 

“Dude, seriously, calm down, take a breath, and don’t be so frank about it. Chat her up a bit, you know, compliment her features, eyes, face, nose, hair, anything attached to her head is great.”

“Hello… miss.” Dean nodded and put two thumbs up. “Has anyone ever told you that you…. um, have green eyes? That… are. Green?” Dean raised an eyebrow and Cas’ head fell down in defeat. “Dean I am truly quite horrible at this.” Cas sighed. “Perhaps we should just forget it.”

“And let you  _actually_  talk to women like this? I don’t think so.” Dean thought for a moment. “Okay. Well, flirting is basically my first language, and maybe you learn better with a demonstration. So you be the girl.”

“What?! No.” Cas shook his head. “I… I don’t think so.”

“Nope, no excuses. You shall learn the ways of the flirt, my young padawan.” Dean smirked, and that little voice that was currently screaming  _dean-dean-stop-dean-no-DEAN-HOW-DO-YOU-NOT-REALIZE-HOW-GAY-THIS-IS-ARE-YOU-BLIND-HE-IS-A-MALE-AND-THIS-IS-A-SLIPPERY-SLOPE-OF-HOMOSEXUALITY-DEAN-FOR-THE-LOVE-OF-GOD_  was pushed to the back of his head. “C’mere.”

Cas inched forward, looking as if it physically pained him.

“Now, high school girls, they don’t need a lot of small talk, really, it’s a party so they’ll be expecting to be hit on. Give ‘em sincere compliments, and pretend to listen to what they’re saying, and you’ll be golden.” Dean took a deep breath, and looked at him with his coy eyes. “So, what brings a girl like you here?”

“This is my house.” Cas said tonelessly.

“No,” Dean sighed. “Cas, you don’t- Whatever.” Dean scanned Cas’ face, and continued. “You know, and I hope you don’t mind me saying this, you’ve got the prettiest blue eyes I’ve seen in a long time.” He smiled, licking at his lips a little.

“Oh. Thank you.”

“Mm-hmm.” Dean moved a little closer to Cas, putting a hand on the younger boy’s thigh and stubbornly refusing to acknowledge the warmth that he felt and the way Cas inhaled sharply. “Hey, have you heard the one about the silence?”

“No, I don’t think-“

“Eh, forget about it.” Dean smirked, loving that little glint in Cas’ eyes that signaled amusement. He moved a bit closer, hand sliding a bit on Cas’ thighs.  ”I gotta say, it looks like you were poured into that costume. It’s stunning.”

“You can’t pour a human, Dean. And furthermore I’m not wea-” Cas froze as Dean placed a finger to his lips.

“You’re adorable, you know that?” Dean smiled, coming in a little closer so his face was right in front of Cas’. “You take things too literally, angel, but I like that about you.” And  _ABORT ABORT WE’RE GOING OFF SCRIPT HERE YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE TALKING TO A GIRL YOU MORON_. “Hey, don’t we have gym together?” Much better.

“No, Dean, we have histor-“

“Yeah, I thought I saw you there.” Dean was really getting into his element now. Time to crank up the charm. He leaned in very close to Cas and stopped just centimeters away from his best friend’s ear. “What do you say you and I find some place quiet to talk?”

And Cas didn’t respond. Dean pulled away, though definitely not far enough, and looked at him. Cas was staring at him, wide-eyed and lips slightly parted in surprise. From the distance and position he was in, it would have been all too easy for Dean to kiss the edge of Cas’ jaw. Which he totally wasn’t thinking about. Except…. goddamn this silence was lasting a long time. His and Cas’ eyes locked, both of them breathing heavily, neither one moving, too afraid to break whatever the hell was going on.

And then it hit Dean. In the way a glass window hits a stupid bird mid-flight. This was WAY to intimate, his- _lower area_  - was happily standing at attention, and he was having trouble forming coherent thought. Combine that with his hand that was still placed on Cas’ way-too-warm thigh, and things were heading in the wrong direction  _fast_. 

“Uh-hrm.” Dean coughed, leaning backwards and trying not to feel like he was moving in the wrong direction. He took his hand of Cas’ thigh and stood up. “So… that’s flirting. Uhm, it’s a- you know, work on it. Maybe watch some porn to improve your kissing- I- uh, I gotta go, I promised Sam I’d…. do. stuff. At home. Bobby’s got chores and I-” Dean backed up until he hit Cas’ desk and knocked the textbooks to the floor. “Shit. Um.” He stooped and picked them up, put them on the desk, grabbed his backpack, called “See ya Cas!” and almost broke his neck tripping halfway down the stairs, then took a wrong turn at the bottom, stood in the Novaks’ kitchen for about half a minute wondering  _oh sweet merciful lord of all that is holy where the fuck did the goddamn door go?!_  before turning around and practically sprinting out of the house.

Upstairs, in his room, Cas sat in the same spot, a smile filling his face, and wishing he had just taken a chance and kissed Dean properly.  _Oh well,_  he smiled, crawling onto the bed and turning on his favorite playlist.  _There’s always the party._

————————

Dean drove home as quickly as he could, ran up the stairs without saying hi to Bobby, and shouted a quick ‘hey Sam!’ before slamming the door to his room and throwing himself on the bed. Which brings us back to our beginning, with Dean Winchester freaking the fuck out silently in his bedroom.  _Oh God. Oh God. Oh no oh no oh no ohnonononono please dear sweet jesus NO_. Dean groaned into the comforter. This must be what a true crisis felt like. Like your world just started spinning in the opposite direction and you’re trying to hold on but don’t know how, or how things got so complicated,  _or_   _when the fuck you started having gay feelings for your best friend._

_Okay. No big deal. Come on, Dean, you’re not gay. You like boobs and long hair and warm, thin waists and females. This was just a- a mild fluke. Your sexuality temporarily malfunctioned, but it’s going to be fine. Just- um, porn. Watch some porn. Porn heals all wounds. And pie. Pie is wonderful. Especially apple pie. I’ve still gotta get Cas to try pie, I keep forgetting. I bet he’ll look really cute, with that face he gets when he’s confronted with new foods, like he doesn’t trust them, is all suspicious of their flavor, and he’ll get pie filling on his bottom lip but not notice and then I’ll offer to lick it off and-_

_Shit._

_ShitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitohgodfuckingDAMMIT._

_I am so. fucking. screwed._

_I **can’t**  like Cas though. Cas is my buddy. He’s - weird, and awkward, and super literal, and strange, and nerdy, and so what if he has that constant sex hair thing? His eyes aren’t that blue, I’ve seen bluer. And he looks really good shirtless, so what? He’s just a friend._

_But maybe…_

_He seemed to be enjoying that little - experience - earlier just as much as I was…._

_Could he…?_

_Is he gay? Or bi? I always thought he liked chicks. Well, I always thought I liked chicks, too, but I guess that one was wrong._

_Would he want a boyfriend?_

_Maybe…_

_But…_

_I mean, even if he did…_

_Why would he want me?_

————————

Dean readjusted his tunic thing for about the thousandth time as he waited for the door to the Harvelles’ to open. He had decided to be a knight for Halloween, just without all the heavy-ass chainmail and tiara and shit, even if Cas had gone out and bought a little crown for him, which had promptly been thrown at Cas’s head as soon as Dean saw it. He reached up to knock again when it swung open violently and Ellen stood in the entryway, glaring at him like maybe if she tried really hard, he’d burst into flames. He took an involuntary step back. 

“If I ever find out that you had anything to do with this, Dean Winchester, I swear to god I will see to it you never drive that car of yours again.” She thought about it for a second. “And maybe cut off one of your legs.”

“Whoah, hey, Ellen.” Dean held his hands up in surrender. “What… did I have absolutely nothing at all to do with at any time ever?”

As an answer to his question, the door opened a bit further and Jo came into view. Ellen looked murderous, and now Dean could see why with perfect clarity as his jaw dropped to the floor.

“What in  _god’s_  name are you wearing?!” Dean cried, trying not to sound too much like an old conservative grandmother, but Jesus, that was one skimpy costume. It was all white, a sort of full body suit with a cut-out cross that showed wayyy too much cleavage and waist for Dean to be even the slightest bit comfortable.

“Mom said I could be a superhero if I wanted.” Jo smiled, and Dean understood.

“Dagger?” She nodded. “Am… is it okay if I castrate any guy that looks at you tonight? Like, every single one of them?”

Jo rolled her eyes. “Are we just about done with Amish time? Awesome, come on Dean.” She strutted down the stairs and Dean took notice of her, like, two foot high heels and winced on her behalf.

Ellen was still glaring from the doorway. “Joanna Beth, if you aren’t back by 11:30 sharp, you will be grounded ‘till you hit menopause.”

Jo laughed and waved back to her mom as the two of them walked down the steps. “Are we driving?”

“Hell yes, we’re driving. I’m not having you walk the yellow-gravel road to Cas’ in those hooker heels.”

“Oh god, you’re as bad as her.” Jo rolled her eyes, but thanked him as he unlocked and opened the passenger door for her.

“So, why Dagger? Other than the fact that you’re obviously going for the comic book prostitute angle.” Dean said, starting the engine and enjoying the purr of his baby as they made their way to the Novaks’.

“It’s a theme. Kali’s idea. We’re all Marvel girls, she did all kinds of research and stuff on it. Also,  _father Winchester_ , I’d like to point out that I’m wearing a skin-tight-white-jumpsuit-thing that doesn’t have a zipper. With boots that lace up to the thigh. It took me half an hour to get it on. How long do you think it’s gonna take an asshole with roofies to get it _off_?” She smirked as he gave her an understanding smile. “Don’t think I don’t consider these things.”

“Atta girl.” Dean said, checking his hair in the mirror, but most certainly not because he’d be seeing Cas. “Ready to party?” He said, pulling the car into the secret spot Cas had shown him a while back, away from thieves and puking jocks and pretty much everyone. It was his baby’s own special spot.

————————

**(CAS POV)**

The two of them were about half an hour early, as their whole friend group was arriving earlier to help out with some last minute preparations. Castiel watched from his window as Dean and Jo walked up the driveway. He had always suspected they had some sort of relationship between them, of the romantic sort, but when he had asked Dean, he had simply laughed and told him that they had tried to date once, but realized they were much better off as friends. In truth, only Kali had never had a ‘thing’ with Dean. He and Jo had briefly dated, as well as he and Pamela, who associated with them from time to time. Meg had been an eager participant in some late-night frivolity. Lisa, a flexible weekend during the summer right after school ended. Anna. Rendezvous in the Impala.

It seemed Castiel would be next on the list, he thought with a smile. At least, that was what he had figure out from his cousin Balthazar when he replied to Castiel’s inquisitive email he had sent after the flirting debacle. **Cassie, cassie, cassie.**  It had read.  **Didn’t know you had it in you, but good on you, anyway. I’ve got to say, this Dean seems like a bit of a tosser, but if you like him then I am honour-bound to tell you that he’s most definitely into you. Practice flirting? Please. I’m pretty sure that was in an episode of Skins, it’s so clichéd. My advice? Go for it. Then I can brag about my oh-so-fabulous american gay cousin and his boyfriend with the pretty eyes to all my mates here. Though not a one of them will care. Say “eyllo gobv’nahh” to Uriel for me, because I’m pretty sure he thinks that’s how I talk, and give Anna my love.  And please light something of Gabriel’s on fire and tell him he’s a twat.**

Castiel made his way to the stairs, meeting Anna in the living room. She had on a green costume that  covered most of her body, though it was quite tight and showed much of her breasts. It had yellow accents, which almost told you who she was supposed to be. “I’m almost positive Dr. Grey’s costume is not so low-cut, Anna.”

“Shh.” She pressed a finger to his lips and winked. ” No one has to know that if you don’t tell, Castiel. And hot-damn. Baby brother, you look good in a waistcoat.” She smiled and ruffled his gelled hair. “But this hair needs to be more careless and ruffled if you want to score tonight.” She winked at him and he blushed.

“I think I’m supposed to make a joke about my drink preferences and the numbers zero-zero-seven, but I’ve forgotten what it was…” He mumbled as she let out a soft laugh and smiled at him.

The doorbell rang, and Anna clacked across the wooden floors to answer it, then beckoned Dean and Jo into the house. Castiel’s face lit up when he saw Dean. He was wearing this blue-green tunic that really showed off his eyes and had a little slit on the collar that showed a bit of his well-muscled chest. Castiel smiled at his best friend, who would soon become his boyfriend, and felt a certain… rightness, even if it wasn’t a word, about the whole thing. Like it always supposed to be him and Dean, the two of them in love and against the world. And, if his study of romantic comedies in preparation for the night was correct, Dean’s expression when he saw Castiel in the button-down white shirt and waistcoat implied he felt the same.

————————

**(DEAN)**

About forty or so minutes later, the party was in full swing. Dean hadn’t had a lot of time to talk to Cas (last-minute preparations were a  _bitch_ ) but he did have a lot of time to think, and he’d decided to make a move. Which, if he was being honest, was more than a little due to how goddamn attractive Cas looked tonight, in a tie and a waistcoat and without an over-sized dirty trench coat. His heart had almost beat out of his chest when he saw Cas for the first time that night, and saw how his eyes light up when he saw Dean. So he decided to go for it. I mean, what was the worst that could happen? If Cas freaked out Dean could always blame it on being completely wasted and it’d be fine. No harm no foul.

Presently he was searching the familiar house for Cas, weaving through the crowds of bodies and trying to ignore the heavy bass of the speakers that was vibrating the floor and the walls. He passed Gabriel, who was chatting up Kali in her Spiderwoman costume. He had to hand it to Gabe, the Willy Wonka getup was accurate and pretty awesome. He nodded to the shorter man as he passed by and Gabe tipped his purple top-hat in his direction. He walked by them and past an angel and a shark making out, and a surgeon and a cavegirl having a very, very loud argument.

When he did find Cas, he was busy talking to Becky (Gabrielle from some show about ancient Greece or something) and Chuck (a normal t-shirt with a nametag that said ‘ **GOD** ’ on it) so Dean made a stop at the kitchen to grab some chips and a soda. He watched Cas as he did so, smiling like an idiot as Cas tugged nervously at the tie around his neck.

“Oh, sweetie, so not gonna happen.” A voice said from beside him.

Dean spun on his heel and came face-to-face with a blonde girl in this weird black leotard thing with a lightning bolt on it and heels up to her thighs. Around her eyes were little black ovals. He raised an eyebrow at her costume. 

“Yeah, I don’t know, I’m Ms. Marvellous or something, Meg made me do it.” She shrugged, taking a long sip of soda.

“Oh, you know Meg?” Dean said, still confused but trying to make small talk.

“She’s my older sister. Hi. Ruby. Sophomore. Nice t’meetcha.” The blonde said, rolling her eyes. “But that’s not relevant right now. You’ve got a big gay crush on the double-o-sex-on-legs over there, right?”

Dean made a little gaspy fishy face in lieu of an answer, which was probably not the best choice, as that just made her smirk more.

“Thought so. Want some advice, pretty boy? Leave it alone. Trust me, that vessel’s flying straight and true. His family’s more religious than the apostles, right? Well you can bet your finely crafted ass that he’s been bred to think tapping it would be a sin.”

“What the-” Dean stuttered. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I like you, and you’ve got a kick-ass facial structure, and I’m a little bit drunk. So sue me, I don’t want him to squash your dreams.” She smiled and took a handful of chips from the bowl. “Look, believe me or not, Winchester. The fact remains that he,” She pointed a manicured at Cas. “Is as straight as it gets, and you walking around making moon eyes at him makes even people in Zimbabwe feel second-hand embarrassment ” And she clicked away on her dominatrix heels, leaving Dean struck dumb and regretting pretty much every decision he’d ever made in his life up to this point, but most of all, agreeing to be history project partners with the attractive man whose eyes did strange things to Dean’s sexuality. It was like Ruby had stepped on every bit of Dean’s confidence and left him a shriveling excuse for a human being. Was it that obvious? Both that he was crushing on Cas and that Cas was definitely not interested? I mean, he barely knew Ruby, it’s not like she would lie to him, what could possibly make her want to?

Wow.

His night was ruined.

He took one last look at Cas, who was smiling and tucking a piece of hair behind Becky’s ear, and felt like an idiot.

Dean walked slowly out of the kitchen, trying not to look too much like a self-pitying loser, but most likely failing. He flopped down on the couch in the Novaks’ second downstairs living room, and was soon joined by Lisa. “Hello prince charming.” She said, with a friendly smile.

“Hey… Rogue, right?” He said, pointing to the white bangs she was sporting.

“Got it in one.” She smiled, stroking a segment of her hair. “Kali promised it’d wash off, or I get to drive her car for a week.”

“Nice one.” Dean said nodding. Maybe he could get a nice rebound off of Lisa. She was gorgeous, and flexible, and showing signs of interest. Her eyes were the wrong color, of course, but he’d take what he could get. He pushed all thoughts of Cas to the back of his mind and gave her a flirting smile. “So, Rogue, it’s too bad you can’t touch me, I can think of so many things we could’ve done.”

Lisa smiled back, running a hand through her hair. “Well, if you ask nicely, maybe I’ll make an exception.”

And Dean leaned in and kissed her.

————————

**(CAS)**

Castiel finally escaped Becky and Chuck’s conversation, but Dean had left the kitchen where Castiel had seen him earlier. After two more conversations, one with Gabriel, the other with Anna and two of her friends, he found Dean sitting alone on the couch. He smiled brightly but it wasn’t returned. He sat down next to Dean, taking care to sit a bit closer than he might normally, and frowning a bit in confusion at the way Dean flinched when he did so. “Hello, Dean.” He smiled, turning to face him.

Dean didn’t look at Castiel. His eyes stared down at the table in front of them. “Hey Cas.” He said, and his voice was strangely monotone.

“Is something wrong?” Castiel said, confused.

Dean sighed, and shook his head. “No, nothing.”

“Oh.” Castiel’s smiled returned. “I’m glad. You know, that shirt emphasizes the color of your eyes very well, I’m glad we chose it.” He smiled, proud to show Dean he had learned something about ‘flirting’.

Dean’s reactions to flirting were not normal, Castiel decided, when Dean’s eyes shut like Castiel’s words had caused him pain, and he muttered “Thanks, Cas.” Like the words were trying to choke him.

“Are you enjoying the party?” He said, brushing his hand against Dean’s thigh and trying not to worry when Dean flinched away from his touch.

“Yeah, it’s,” Dean coughed into his hand. Maybe he was sick. “It’s awesome, dude. Hey, you find a girl yet?”

Castiel was confused. This was a strange way to flirt. Perhaps Dean was trying to tease him, to- oh what was the term… play hard to get at? Something like that. “No, I haven’t. I haven’t truly been looking.” There. That was good, right? Flirting. It was so complicated.

“Come on, Cas, go out there and snag a girl.” 

Castiel was so confused. This was not like any flirting he’d ever seen, Dean seemed…angry. It just didn’t make sense. “Dean, are you sure you’re okay? You don’t seem yourself.”

“I’m awesome, Cas.” Dean practically spat out the words. “In fact, I just got myself a brand-new girlfriend.”

 _What. But- but no. But… what?_  “I’m sorry?”

“Lisa.” Dean smiled up at Cas, still refusing to meet his gaze. “We made out, she went home, curfew, and I gots myself a girlfriend now. Just asked her out about ten minutes ago. Isn’t that awesome.”

No. No that was not ‘awesome’ at all. That was terrible and awful and - “Great, Dean.” Castiel said, his voice emotionless and controlled, like it was when he spoke to every single person who wasn't related to him, except Dean. Usually. “That’s…great. I’m very happy for you. I’m sure you’ll make each other very happy. And now- I’m going to go. Very far away.”

And he near bolted out of the room, away from Dean and his stupid beautiful eyes and smile that Castiel would be all too happy never to see again.

————————

Meg Masters was bored. She’d gone at least to second base with every guy at the party, and having a bunch of drunk idiots grope her through her meticulously planned Lady Loki costume was not her idea of fun. She decided to take refuge upstairs, find a place to stay for a while before heading backstairs. She went up the stairs and chose a door at random, picking the lock and walking inside. She flicked on the lights and realized with a start that someone was already in the anal retentively clean room. 

“Hey, Cas.” She smiled at the boy who was looking at her in amazement. “How’s it going?”

“How… did you get in here?”

Meg held up a bobby pin. “I got a key.” She smirked. “Why aren’t you downstairs?”

“I’m not feeling very festive at the moment.” Cas sighed and Meg went to sit next to him.

“Yeah, you look like someone just shot your puppy.” 

“Well, that’s a horrible image, thank you very much.”

Meg laughed at Cas’ pained expression. “Oh lighten up, pretty eyes.” She smiled and gave his shoulder a playful nudge, and laughed even harder as his eyes narrowed at her. He was - wow. When did Cas get so attractive? That waistcoat was definitely full of sexy magic.

“I’m not sure how to.” Cas looked down at the floor and Meg felt herself feeling-  _oh god was that an emotion? Ugh, did that feel horrible_. It was like empathy, but the Meg version, which was reluctant sort-of-empathy with a hint of loathing.

“Well.” Meg put a hand on his jaw and turned him to face her. “First, fix that stupid tie of yours. It’s supposed to go under the waistcoat, and it’s all crooked. You look homeless.”

Cas looked down, blushing, and untied the tie with unsure hands, then was obviously confused on how to re-tie it.

Meg clicked her tongue in disapproval. “Who tied it for you?”

“My sister.” Cas mumbled, still attempting to figure out how the tie worked.

“Oh give it here, useless.” Meg pushed his hands away and tied the tie quickly and efficiently. She’d done it for her brothers and father a million times. When she was finished, she looked up at Cas, who was staring at her. But in a totally non creepy way, full of gratitude and pretty blueness, so of course Meg  _had_  to reach out, grab the tie again, and pull him into a kiss.

And she was  _very_  pleasantly surprised when he pushed her roughly onto the bed and ran his hands up and down her body. He wasn’t the most skilled kisser, but that was probably from lack of experience, and he definitely had some major potential. 

————————

And while Cas’ mind raced, trying to remember all the things he’d learned from the porn Dean had suggested, he found that he really didn’t mind kissing Meg. Truth be told, as first kisses went, he could have done a lot worse, even if he had planned to be kissing Dean.  _Oh well, no use in crying about it._  He thought, and lost himself in Meg and the taste of her lips.

————————

Costume References: [Jo](http://media-cache-lt0.pinterest.com/upload/268245721525417611_eXnpPJDx_b.jpg) [Anna](http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090929193118/hasbroheroes/images/3/3c/JeanGrey6.jpg) [Becky](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/80/Gabby_Xena.jpg) [Meg](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8nj0dadc11rdd1ido1_1280.jpg) [Ruby](http://comicsbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/frank-cho-ms-marvel-1-cover-ms-marvel_i-G-51-5128-UJXEG00Z.jpg) [Lisa](http://images.wikia.com/avengersalliance/images/b/b7/Rogue-\(%3F\)_Marvel.com_Art.jpg) [Kali](http://www.disneydreaming.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Spider-Woman-Movie.jpg)


	4. In Which Dean is Hungover and Stupid

Dean wakes up the next morning hung-over and confused. Vaguely remembering most of the party but especially the Cas parts, he realizes first that he’s passed out on the Novaks’ couch, second that his head is rested on someone. A male, half-naked someone. Dean groggily registers a familiar torso his head is resting on, and sighs and almost snuggles into Cas’ chest. He lets himself believe, just for a second, that this is a constant thing. That he wakes curled around Cas every morning and can kiss him awake, can watch him in the early morning light and know that Cas is  _his_. Even if laying on him isn’t all that comfortable right now, seeing as half of his arm is stuck under Cas’ back. Dean groggily lifts his head to mumble that Cas should move over.

Only it isn’t Cas. It’s  _Gabriel_. Shirtless and covered in suspicious stains that Dean will not even let himself think about.

Dean lets out what he will go to his grave insisting was not a girlish shriek of terror and very rationally flings himself off the couch and onto the floor.

Gabriel shoots up, panic and confusion in his eyes. Dean is hyperventilating  There is a distinct possibility he is also going into cardiac arrest.

“Wha-” Gabriel rubs his eyes with the back of his hand. “Dude, so not cool.”

“Gab- did we- oh god- wha-” Dean may or may not be in a semi-fetal position and fervently praying to be struck by lightning.

Gabriel chuckles, something Dean will never forgive him for even if he lives to be a hundred, and says “Morning, Dean-o. How’s the hangover? Because mine is not at all improved by your banshee screaming.”

“Gabriel!” Dean growls, still fetal. “Please tell me nothing happened between us last night.”

Gabriel sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “Damn, if you think there’s even the slightest possibility you were drunk enough not to remember if you got down n’ dirty with me, you’ve got more problems than sleeping on top of the sexyness that is my half-naked bod.”

Dean glares at Gabriel. “Okay, fuckbag, is that a no?”

Gabriel glares back. “Yeah, that’s a no. You were drunk off your ass and I was trying- I don’t even know, maybe to get high on jello?  Or was that earlier… anyway, I sat down and you told me I was everything you ever wanted in a man, and bitched about not being ready to be in a relationship with Lisa or some shit, which sucks for you dude cause she’s hot, then you told me if I let you use me as a pillow you’d bake me brownies for a month.” Gabriel smirks down at Dean, who was still curled against the coffee table.

“Very funny, asshat.” Dean groans, rubbing his head. “What the fuck is on your chest?”

Gabriel looks down at his chest, runs a finger through the dry, white subtance on his rib, and sucks it off. “Frosting.” He smiles cheekily. “Wanna lick it off?”

Dean throws a pillow at his face and then may or may not attempt to smother him to death with it.

————————

After fighting off a hung-over, violent Dean, Gabriel sighed and went to make some coffee. Dean followed him into the kitchen.

“So, Dean, why exactly were you so eager to drown your troubles last night?” Gabriel said, pouring a few drops of coffee into his sugar and milk.

“So not talking to you about it.” Dean grumbled, almost burning his tongue on the black coffee Gabriel had made. Reflecting upon the events of last night, he discovered that Gabriel had not been lying. Dean had, in fact, drunkenly mumbled the words ‘so perfect’ and ‘no girls like you’ and something along the lines of ‘i wish you weren’t so straight’ but he hadn’t been referring to Gabriel. He hadn’t even meant to say those things out loud. Ever.

He currently felt like a horde of miniature rabid weasels of angst and regret were having a rave in his brain.

And he definitely needed more coffee.

“So.” Gabriel said, biting into a brownie that seemed to have materialized from mid air. “What’s say you and I wake up the losers who passed out in my house?” He said, pulling a tiny whistle from his pocket.

Dean shuddered. “You know, you are one sadistic son of a bitch.” 

Gabriel just grinned, and Dean watched as he crouched down next to this sophomore in his underwear with Bieber hair, then got as close to his ear as possible and blew.

Dean may or may not have cried laughing as the sophomore spasmed on the carpet and then sprinted out of the house in his underwear and wearing one shoe. He looked down at Anna, who was curled up in another senior’s arms and had bits of fake plant sticking out of her hair. He looked around the room, but couldn’t find Cas. If anyone deserved to hear Dean bitch about a hangover, it was the asshole who caused this stupid gay crisis shit Dean was currently trying to forget ever happened.

“Hey, Gabe, where’s Cas?”

Gabe looked up from getting ready to pour some freshly almost-boiled water onto the head of a guy passed out at the foot of the stairs. “You mean my anti-social, party-hating, introvert of a brother who’s terrified of being in situations with more than twelve people and  _really_  terrified of women?” Gabriel sighed. “He went to bed a little before you started marathon drinking. Which would probably be why you don’t remember. I’d say you’ve got about twenty minutes to book it out of the house before he lights you on fire for letting me host a party here.” He says, then lifts the tea kettle again.

Dean sighs and walks around Gabe, and is about two thirds of the way to Cas’ room when he hears a scream that can only come from a hung-over highschooler with scalding water up his nose. He rolls his eyes and hopes Gabriel has armed himself.

He walks down the hallway to Cas’ room and raps his knuckles sharply against the door. He doesn’t hear anything in response, so he tries again. Still nothing. He tries the doorknob, a little astonished to find that Cas apparently didn’t think to lock his room so some drunk couple wouldn’t try to use it for a hookup. Dean makes a mental note to warn Cas of this for future reference. He pushes the door open slowly “Hey, Cas, man, you might wanna get downstairs before some asshole shanks Gabe- whoah.”

That- that’s not Cas.

Dean freezes in the doorway. They both have their backs to him, but there’s definitely a couple laying on top of Cas’s comforter, and the guy’s only in his underwear. He can’t see the girl, but odds are she isn’t-  _decent_  - either. There’s a bit of shuffling on the bed and Dean knows he’s woken them both up.

“Shit, wow, sorry guys, but have you seen Castiel? He’s the nerdy Junior that stares at people too much? Likes to wear trenchcoats, this is his room…?”

“Dean?”

Fuck.

He’d know that voice anywhere. The guy in the bed turns slightly to look at Dean and yup, it’s Cas. Dean’s heart dives of a cliff and plummets to the floor. “Cas?!” His voice is a bit higher than normal, and he knows that this morning cannot possibly get any worse.

“Hey, Dean.” Meg says, head peeking up from behind Cas’ torso.

Oh hey, he was wrong.

————————

Dean won’t look at Cas.

Cas won’t look at Dean.

This has been going on for a while, ever since Meg left. 

She had gathered up the pieces of her costume that had  _somehow_  managed to get scattered across the floor. She was in her underwear, and had asked to borrow one of Cas’ shirts. As Cas pulled on some pajama pants for the sake of human decency, she strutted across the room in one of Cas’ only t-shirts (a black one that reads ‘“God is a comedian, playing to an audience too afraid to laugh.” - Voltaire’ and Dean’s sure he bought it just to piss Michael off) like she fucking deserved it. Dean glared at her as she sauntered around, resenting how nicely she looked in Cas’ oversize shirt, until she got the hint and thanked Cas for a nice time, gave them a flitty little wave, and sashayed out the door.

That entire time Dean played it very cool. He patiently waited, even turned his back to give the couple some privacy dressing. He took deep breaths and maybe glared a little, but glaring a little was very mild compared to what Dean felt like doing. Which was, of course, putting his fist through a wall and moving to Nepal to befriend the snow-chipmunks or whatever freaky animals they had out there.

Cas coughed, and Dean whipped around at the noise, and it was apparently enough to open his mental floodgates.

“What the hell, Cas?”

“Excuse me?” Cas said, his head jerking up but still refusing to meet Dean’s gaze.

“Meg? You banged Meg?” Dean took a deep breath. “What the hell possessed you to hook up with Meg?”

Cas glared down at the floor. “You. Told. Me. To. You said I should ‘score’ with a girl, and I did.”

“Cas,” Dean groaned and ran his hand through his hair. “Meg Masters is a whore. She’ll screw anything that moves. She’s like this man-devouring she-witch. She’s hilarious to have around but you don’t fall for her. You  _never_  fall for girls like her.”

“I haven’t ‘fallen’ for anyone, Dean.”

Dean scoffs cruelly. “Oh sure, doe-eyed Castiel with the inability to not place shit-tons of faith in people didn’t fall desperately in love with the girl who punches his v-card.” Dean’s tone is biting and filled with venom. “Cas, you’re not the type to just fuck ‘em and dump ‘em. You’re too fucking  _good_  to do something like that. You’re just not-“

“Like you?” Cas interrupted quietly, but it seems like he’s shouting. He looked straight at Dean, all kinds of righteous fury in his eyes and Dean took an involuntary step back. “First of all, I didn’t have sex with her. We kissed and… other things.” He blushes a little and falters, but he’s looking no less pissed off. “We fell asleep. And I know without even the shadow of a doubt that this was a singular event. I have no false hopes, no unrealistic ideas of what this meant. I thought this is what you wanted. Why are you so angry?”

Dean groaned. “I dunno Cas. It’s just… Meg? She’ll fuck you up, man.”

“You’ve always disliked her. I’m not entirely sure why.” Cas sighed, and when Dean saw the anger slightly retreat from those blue eyes, he decided it was safe to sit down next to Cas on the bed. 

“I told you we hooked up, right?” Cas nodded. “I was young, and stupid at the time. She was a year older than me, and really hot, and I- I thought it meant more than it did. Bitch strung me along for  _months_. I bought her tons of crap, made a complete ass of myself, and the whole time she was fucking some college guy behind my back.”

“Oh.” Cas looked down. “I didn’t realize.”

“Don’t worry about it man. I didn’t tell you, how would you have known. I just don’t like the thought of her taking your innocence and doing what she did to me.”

Cas turned sharply to Dean, and shit that anger is back with a vengeance. “So, your hypothesis is that she seduced me, violated me, and that I am stupid enough to follow in your desperate, horny freshman footsteps?”

“What? Cas, no-“

“Because obviously if a girl wants to be intimate with me, she’s using me and I’m too naive to realize?” Cas stood up angrily as Dean wondered exactly when he’d become so flexible, as his foot was so far into his mouth it was socializing with his large intestine.

“Cas, dude, no, that’s not what I meant. I just meant that Meg has a certain way with idiotic virgins and I don’t want you to join the ranks of her slaves!” And wow, maybe if he fucked up his words just a bit more God would show mercy and kill him where he stood.

Cas’ eyes flared with anger and Dean was suddenly reminded of what a scary fucker Cas was when angry.

“Dean, I think it’s best you leave.”

“Ca-“

“Now would be preferable.” Cas growled, and Dean knew he better get out or risk being thrown out of Cas’ third story window.

As he stomped down the stairs in a huff, not even Gabriel tried to talk to him. He marched out the door, revved the Impala angrily, and sped out of the Novaks’ property, wondering if he’d ever be allowed back.


	5. In Which Sam has Opinions and Schemes

Sam Winchester is not happy.

Not even a little.

See, Sam’s a smart kid. He got first place in the science fair last year and gets As and Bs. He’s in gifted classes and reads a lot, and he’s smarter than pretty much anyone else in his grade. Not to brag or anything.

But that’s not the point.

The point is, Cas doesn’t come over anymore. And Sam’s a smart kid, so he knows it’s Dean’s fault.

Dean walks around the house like a irritated elephant, fat and loud and obnoxious. He’s always irritated and pissed off, though sometimes Sam catches him looking really sadly at like the toaster or something, probably because Cas touched it once and it will forever remind Dean of his epic gay love for him. Or something. And, whatever, that’s not worrying, ever since their dad left Dean has passionately repressed all feelings other than “Dean angry” and “Dean protect Sam”, and lately, “Dean protect Cas”, because he’s an emotionally retarded caveman. That hasn’t changed. But since Dean and Cas fell in love over Back to the Future and decided they couldn’t survive without each-others presence, Sam hasn’t gone two days without Cas visiting their house and either watching a movie with the two of them or going upstairs to make out with Dean or whatever it is they do up there when Dean tells Sam he isn’t allowed to come in.

And Sam really likes Cas. He can’t understand why Cas likes Dean, but whatever.

He is 100% positive Dean has gone and done something really stupid and driven away Sam’s third favorite person in the whole world, because Dean’s a stupid-faced idiot who says things he doesn’t mean to people he cares about. But Sam is not gonna let Dean screw things up with someone Sam actually likes.

See, Cas doesn’t treat Sam like a kid. He doesn’t call him Sammy or ruffle his hair, he talks to him about history and mythology and asks him questions like he actually cares what Sam thinks. Because that’s just the way Cas is, he treats everyone and everything like they matter, like they’re important and worthy of recognition.

So if they are gay for each-other, Cas is so out of Dean’s league.

But he thinks they’re a little bit in love anyway, so maybe Cas doesn’t realize that yet. But right now, it’s been two and a half weeks and Cas hasn’t stopped by once. And Sam knows Dean hasn’t been to visit him, either. He’s seen Lisa everyday, and she’s nice and all, but she calls him Sammy and gets annoyed if he stays in the room with the two of them too long. Sam guesses Lisa is Dean’s girlfriend now, and ha, that should last long, Dean is worse at relationships than Henry the eighth. But Sam should like Lisa, she puts up with Dean’s ridiculous lack of personal hygiene and his stupid rock music, and she makes awesome brownies.

But she’s replaced Cas in their lives, and Sam is really not okay with that. He’s not sure what happened, but as soon as Lisa started coming over, Cas stopped, and he knows it’s mostly Dean’s fault. When he asks Dean about it, he gets an angry ‘mind your own business, Sam’ so yeah. Definitely Dean being an idiot.

Cas isn’t any better to talk to either, the one time he’d asked Cas about Dean he’d puffed up like an angry chicken and told Sam that Dean bred with the mouth of a goat and should stop sending his little brother to clean up his messes.

So yeah, still confused as to what that meant.

But Sam is most certainly not going to sit by and let Dean lose his only best friend that didn’t have to like him because they were either family or practically that.

He just needs a scheme. A manipulative plan to get them back together, like the parent trap, except he didn’t have a twin, he wasn’t a ginger, his parents weren’t divorced, and really not like the parent trap at all.

Whatever. You get the point.

————————

Sam’s evil masterplan was pretty simple, really. He asked for Jo’s help, cause he was pretty sure she loved Cas and disliked Lisa just as much as he did. He called Cas and begged him for help on his History test, and told him to meet him in one of the science labs. Once Cas was waiting for him there, Anna led Dean to the same lab room. Sure, as soon as he saw Cas waiting inside Dean had bolted for the door, but Anna held it shut while Sam locked it from the outside with keys that he definitely shouldn’t be allowed to have.

“Thanks, Steve.” Sam said, handing the keys back to the smirking man.

See Dean? That’s why you don’t put paint in the janitor’s mop bucket. Janitors like to get revenge.

————————

In hindsight, perhaps locking two angry teenage males in a room with lots of flammable chemicals and glass objects was probably not the best idea.

But hey, two broken beakers and an accidental fire later, and Dean was doubled over in laughter and clutching Cas’ shoulder, and Cas was looking at Dean like he hung the moon and invented oxygen, so Sam figured things were back to normal.

And oh yeah, Dean so owed him.


	6. In Which There is a Romantic Montage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a collection of memories of Dean and Cas’ friendship. Since they jump around a bit, I’ve provided the general time in which they are occurring. It’s also a bit of a long one, hope that makes up for the delay in posting it :) Also, the end of the last chapter happened around mid-november. Just so you know.

**Early November**

Lisa is a great girlfriend. Dean tells himself this every single time he sees her. She’s beautiful, and  _flexible_ , and really kind of awesome. She doesn’t complain when he blasts Led Zeppelin as they drive, or about the rumbling the Impala makes when he pulls into her driveway. She never gets annoyed at Dean’s complete obsession with Star Trek or Star Wars, just goes along with it. She doesn’t sigh in frustration when he refuses to do his homework, never annoyingly nags him to study or calls him out on it when he’s being an asshole.   
  
Cas did, though. Cas has never put up with Dean’s shit, and if Dean’s being honest with himself, it’s one of the things he misses most about him.  
  
Because, even though he’d never, ever,  _ever_  say it out loud, he loves those things. The most important people in his life have never taken Dean’s crap and he loves them for it. Sammy whines constantly about all the rock music Dean has playing 24/7, Jo and Ellen bitch at him about his grades and relationships, and Bobby doesn’t let him get away with anything. And Cas is like a big mix of all of them. Cas- Dean should stop thinking about Cas. Dean fucked things up with Cas and lost his best friend over some whore in a marvel costume and he hates it. They ignore eachother in the hallways now, because Cas is hurt and Dean is stubborn and doesn’t know how to fix what he’s broken. And it’s not even that he’s maybe-possibly-sorta entertaining some more-than-friends type feelings for the guy, whatever, he can find someone else to screw. But Cas is his best friend, and life without him just sucks. He’s not entirely sure when he got so fucking attached to the nerdy boy in the dirty trenchcoat, but now that he is he’d really like to get him back. If only he could figure out how.  
  
 **————————**  
 **Late August**  
  
Dean pushed open the door to the small dinner, and found Cas sitting in a small booth near a window, sipping on a drink quietly, and flipping through pages of a newspaper.  
  
“Hey, Cas.” He sat down opposite him. “Been waiting long? I know how you like to do that.”  
  
“No, only a few minutes.”   
  
“So, if I can ask, why this place? I mean, not exactly the best place to do research on the American Revolution.”  
  
“The hamburgers here are excellent.” Cas folded up the newspaper carefully,  and took another sip of his (soda? milkshake? water? no way of knowing, the kid was a mystery)   
  
“Huh, I pegged you as the vegetarian type.” Dean said reaching for a menu.  
  
“You were wrong.” Cas said matter-of-factly.  
  
Dean eyed him. “Well, erm. You know we’re only going to be studying, right?” Best settle that now, because this whole thing was feeling a lot like a date.  
  
“What else would we be doing?” Cas tilted his head to the side, something Dean was far too used to.  
  
“I dunno man,” Dean blushed. “I just thought, you know, this is a pretty weird place to meet, not very good for studying in…”  
  
“Ah. Apologies.” Now it was Cas’ turn to blush. “My- my family is difficult to eat out with. My brother Gabriel- well, he orders too many milkshakes and harrasses the waitresses, and Michael is a vegetarian, Anna doesn’t trust the diner staff, and Luc- well, to summarize, I do not get many opportunites to eat here so I thought I might turn our project into one.” He looks down at the table. “I’m sorry, if you wish to leave we can go somewhere a bit more suited to studying…”  
  
“Nah, dude, I love a good meal. Do they have bacon cheeseburgers?”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“Then let’s do this, Novak.”  
  
 **————————**  
 **Mid October**  
  
“Hey, Winchester.” Dean tensed up upon hearing the voice behind him, and Cas, changing next to him, definitely noticed, eyes narrowing in concern.  
  
“Alastair.” Dean nodded, pulling off his P.E. shirt and stuffing it into the old, rusty locker he had been assigned.  
  
“You weren’t at off-seasons last Saturday. You missed sign-ups. You better have been sick or something asswipe, no way you’re quitting my team.” Alastair practically spat out the words.  
  
“Just ‘cause you’re captain doesn’t mean I’m committing mutiny by not signing up. I’ve got other shit to do with my life, don’t have time to chase some balls around.” Dean grumbled, leaning down to tie his shoe.  
  
“Heh. You sure about that, Romeo? You know, I never liked you before, but now…” Alastair grinned cruelly and eyed Cas in a way that could only be defined as rapey. “From what I hear, you been chasing balls in a sort-of,  _Angel in the Outfield_  kinda way.”  
  
“That doesn’t even make sense, you moron.” Dean smirked and placed a hand on Alastair’s shoulder in fake-fondness. “My uncle’s cracking down hard on me this year, man. Not much I can do about it.”  
  
“He’s joining the Physics club.” And wow, could Cas have possibly picked a worse time to pipe up? Dean glared at him for a second before Alastair smirked menacingly at the younger boy who, to Dean’s pride, did not shrink or even turn away, just focused that crazy stare at Alastair and refused to back down.  
  
“Aww, is Winchester boning a nerd, too? Didn’t know guys like you had it in ‘em to take it up the ass. What’s your name again?”  
  
Dean wasn’t one for prayer, but if he was he would’ve prayed for a speedy death, because, come on, they were in a fucking locker room and Cas still didn’t have his goddamn shirt on and the senior baseball captain was talking as if the two of them were fucking. Dean was blushing and angry and probably looked like an idiot. But Cas? Cas just stared at Alastair, and Dean was about 98% sure he didn’t understand what a fuckhead Alastair was being.  
  
“Castiel Novak.”  
  
“Yeah, thought you were one of the religious freaks. So tell me, Castiel, who’s the bitch here? You, or the newly converted Dean Winchester?” Alastair said with a lecherous and vile grin.  
  
“Alastair. Dude, fuck off.” Dean said, turning to glare at the him, entire body tense.  
  
“Heard your old man bailed on you, Winchester. They always say hookers got daddy issues, makes sense yours made you like cock.” Dean felt himself tense up more. A low growl rose up in his throat. “What a disappointment you would be if he saw you, fuckin’ some fag bible camp reject.”  
  
And if Dean wanted to beat Alastair senseless (and he really, really did), he would never have gotten there fast enough. Before Dean could even process what Alastair had said, Cas had Alastair pinned against a locker, forearm pressing against the senior’s neck.  
  
“You should not speak to him that way.” Cas’s eyes bore into him, and Dean knew he saw fear flash through Alastair’s eyes  before they were once again replaced with malice. “And you should not tempt me to do something I might regret.”  
  
“Cas.” Dean said, glancing around for signs of Alastair’s friends. “Seriously, dude, it’s fine. He’s just an unevolved, semi-illiterate asshole, it’s not worth it.”  
  
“Hey Cas.” Alastair smiled as Dean mentally prepared himself for the worst. He really hoped that for one, he would be able to keep Alastair from beating the shit out of Cas once he got out of the hold Cas had on him, and for another, that Cas wouldn’t start crying or something. He wasn’t sure how much the bookish angel boy would be able to handle. “Cas, you seem like a smart guy. Why are you slumming it with some white-trash, worthless, piece of shit like Dean?”  
  
And that’s when Cas snapped. Like, really fucking  _snapped_. Growling, he punched Alastair in the face, letting him go as he did so. Alastair fought back angrily, shoving Cas away and throwing punches at whatever parts of Cas he could reach. Dean stood still, eyes wide and jaw dropped, watching as Cas dropped to the floor and kicked Alastair’s feet out from under him with textbook precision. Cursing, Alastair picked himself up at lunged at Cas, who fucking  _flipped_  the guy onto the wooden bench with a loud, painful thump.  
  
But Alastair could be described as nothing but resilient, and he charged at Cas and the two of them tangled at the opposite side of the locker room as the few guys left inside after 6th period gym started chanting out a chorus of “fight! fight! fight!” and formed a circle around the two of them that Dean struggled to break through, so he could help Cas, but to no avail.  
  
He heard another loud thump, and a low growl that could only be Cas when he’s really, truly pissed off. “You don’t  _ever_ get to talk about me, or Dean, that way. Ever again. Do you understand me?”  
  
From behind a frickin’ huge Sophomore linebacker, Dean heard nothing but a pathetic whine.   
  
“Eugene Francis Alastair. Do. You. UNDERSTAND.” And holy shit, Dean owed Cas a frickin’ medal. No one ever calls Alastair by his first name, not even the teachers. They’re all terrified of retaliation. Jo told him once that the last time someone called him Euegene was in 2nd grade, and the kid who did still had yet to be released from St. Catherine’s psychiatric ward.  And the fact that Cas, the nerdy guy with the baggy trenchcoat who only speaks when spoken to, is treating him like a child, and evoking the power of the full name, well, that’s pretty fucking awesome. The entire locker room was quiet, its inhabitants hanging on to every word, not to mention filming it on their phones.  
  
“Yes.” Alastair said in a pathetic, defeated voice.  
  
“Apologize.” Cas said, as the crowd parted and all eyes turned on Dean, who was desperately trying to understand how things could have possibly progressed to the point where Cas had his foot against Alastair’s neck and was pinning him to the ground.  
  
“Sorry.” Cas lifted his foot off of the older boy, and Alastair growled at Dean, then picked himself up the floor with as much confidence as he could muster. He fled the locker room angrily, and the remaining boys in the locker room stared at Cas like he just grew a third head and they hadn’t even noticed he had a second one. A couple of people let out low whistles, and one senior patted Cas on the back in approval, but absolutely everyone was too shocked to do much of anything.  
  
Cas crossed the locker room and began to gather his things. He looked at Dean with a small smile on his face, still shirtless and with barely a mark on him. “We should go, Dean. We’ll be late to history.” He said, slipping on the shirt he had to borrow from Gabriel that morning, which said ‘ _Shall we shag now, or shall we shag later?’_  (when Dean had asked about it Cas had muttered something about ‘all my clothing is in ice’ and ‘only one without sequins’ and he had dropped the subject)  
  
Dean shook his head in disbelief, then wordlessly followed the other boy out of the locker room.  
  
 **————————**  
  
“It’s your own fault you know.” Dean sighed from where he was splayed out on Cas’ bed. “In fact, I’m pretty sure you can be qualified as legally insane and a menace to society.”  
  
Cas flipped the page of his book and eyed Dean. “You know, you don’t have to be here.”  
  
“Oh, I sure as hell do.” Dean grinned up at the ceiling and shifted so his head was resting on his palms. “My best friend goes and gets himself suspended for beating the shit out of the biggest narcissistic dickhead in school? How could I not take a few days off with him?”  
  
“I suppose I should say thank you.”  
  
“Nah, dude, it’s mostly for my benefit anyway. Do you know how goddamn boring History would be without you? I’d put a gun in my mouth.” Dean flipped over on Cas’ bed and inched over so his head was hanging over the edge of the bed. Cas raised an eyebrow as Dean bumped their foreheads together. “So how did your family take it?”  
  
Cas sighed. “Michael was disappointed, no surprise there, but I told him the whole story and, well he didn’t exactly approve, but he hasn’t tried to punish me or threatened to get our father involved, so I think he’s secretly pleased. Luc grinned so much I thought he might actually cause permanent damage to his face and took me out for a celebration burger, which Michael was not pleased with.” Cas shook his head at his family’s antics. “Gabriel did a sort of- interpretive dance of joy because, quote, ‘my little brother went all prison gang on his stupid face’ which I really would not like to dwell on or try to understand. Only Anna really did not approve, but she mostly fussed over me and spent almost an hour making sure i wasn’t injured.”  
  
“Good for her!” Dean smiled and Cas rolled his eyes, going back to his book. Dean inched back from the edge of the bed and rolled over on his back.  
  
Dean’s eyes roamed Cas’ ceiling lazily, a comfortable silence stretching out through the room. This was how they spent the majority of their afternoons; the weekends were reserved for Dean trying to get Cas to loosen up and Cas trying to keep Dean from getting himself arrested, or for climbing the trees in the small forest in Cas’ backyard, but the afternoons were quiet and comfortable, just the two of them in silence. It was the Dean and Cas way.  
  
“You’re such an idiot…” Dean sighed, a thought that he had meant to keep inside his head.  
  
“Excuse me?” Cas said, looking up from his book.  
  
“Oh, erm-”  _Shit, Dean, learn to think silently, you moron._  “Nah, it’s nothing.”  
  
Cas sat up and looked at Dean not quite threateningly, but Dean knew that was soon to follow. “No, please, enlighten me. How am I an idiot?”  
  
Dean sighed, and kept his eyes on the changeling  “You shouldn’t’ve let Alastair get to you like that; he’s a dick, and not worth it. You could’ve gotten yourself hurt.”  
  
“Who are you, my mother? I knew what I was doing.”  
  
“Yeah, and now you’re suspended. How’s that gonna look on your fancy-shmancy college applications, huh?”  
  
“Putting him in his place was worth the tarnish on my academic records.” Cas sighed, and leaned back against the bed. “The way he spoke- I did not like it.”  
  
Oh. Oh. Dean understood now. _It was Alastair calling him a fa- that word_. “Yeah, I don’t know why he thinks it’s so hilarious to call people gay, but sorry you were insulted.”  
  
“What?” Cas sat up. “No, I don’t mind that.”  
  
“You don’t?”  
  
“Of course not. I do not find being called gay offensive, any more than I might find being called a male offensive. He may have called me an offensive word, but the mere fact that he made an assumption about my sexuality does not insult me in the slightest. Even if it was an-” Cas paused for the tiniest of seconds. “incorrect one.”  
  
Dean closed his eyes.  _Not gay, then. Guess that Ruby chick was right…_ “So, um. Why’d you beat the shit out of him then? If it wasn’t that…”  
  
Cas was silent for a few seconds before responding in a soft voice, “He called you worthless.”  
  
“What?” Dean sat up on the bed. “Cas, dude, that doesn’t mean anything, of all the things to take down a guy for, I mean- I am kinda useless-“  
  
“No you’re not.” Cas glared at him. “You just don’t realize how-“  
  
“How?”  
  
“Nothing. Just….” Cas’ eyes softened and he gave Dean a small smile. “You’re my best friend, and you are not worthless. And sometimes I think you need someone to tell you that, or part of you tries to make you forget it. And that shouldn’t happen.”  
  
“Oh.” Dean was blushing, and probably growing a vagina as he did. “Thanks, Cas.”  
  
“Don’t mention it.” Cas smiled, and the two of them sat for a lot longer than was probably normal, just smiling like idiots at eachother, until Dean’s phone buzzed and his eyes were pulled from Cas’ to Sam’s text that was brightly displayed on his phone. After he responded and finally looked back to Cas, the younger boy had his back to him again, and his nose buried in his book.  
  
 ————————   
 **Mid-late (mlate?) October**    
  
“Cas, what the hell are you wearing?”  
  
Cas looked down and picked at the fabric of his dark blue cardigan. “Clothing?”  
  
“Dude, you look like you got gang-raped by Urban Outfitters.”  
  
“I don’t understand.” Cas frowned and tilted his head.  
  
“Lemme guess, Gabriel stole all your clothes again.” Dean rolled his eyes. “Dude, next time, just fucking ask to borrow something of mine.”  
  
“These are my clothes.” Cas frowned at him. “Gabriel gave them back to me after I revealed where Luke hid his stash of jelly beans- what’s wrong with my clothing?”  
  
Dean blushed. “Um, nothing?” Cas’ eyes narrowed and Dean sighed. “Dude. You’re wearing a cardigan  Over a button up shirt. With a tie. And some tight black pants and a frickin’ douchebag beanie. Is this something you wear often?”  
  
“Not the specific outfit, no, but clothes like this, yes.” Cas raised an eyebrow at Dean. “Do you not like my clothing?”  
  
No, that was definitely not it. Cas looked all… well, pretty frickin’ hipster for one thing, but kind of…. hot? Well, let’s pretend that thought never entered his head. But it was kinda true. Cas had on this dark blue cardigan that made his eyes look fucking awesome, not to mention fit him pretty perfectly, and his unruly hair was partially hidden by this little beanie (worn in the douchebag way, c’mon Cas, not even the sexy- no, he didn’t think it was sexy, of course not, well fitted, let’s go with well fitted- cardigan made up for that) the same color as the cardigan. Not to mention the pants. His whole outfit made Dean feel like a hobo, in his old leather jacket and AC/DC t-shirt he had been given in 7th grade.  
  
“Nah, man, I just didn’t expect you to care much about clothing, or outfits or whatever.”  
  
“Hmm.” Cas considered the comment. “I suppose at some point in my life I had to either dress myself or let Anna do it for me, and as much as I love her, that is something I would very much object to.”  
  
————————  
 **Mid-early (mearly?) October**

  
“Oh, hey Cas.”  
  
“Hello, Sam.” Cas sat down on Sam’s desk chair. “How is 9th grade?” Cas said, eyeing the textbook in his hands.  
  
“Eh, just about seven types of terrible.” The tiny boy smiled at Cas. “Nothin’ I can’t handle.”  
  
“And how is Ruby?” Cas said with a knowing smile.  
  
Sam’s entire face went red. “Hey, I told you that was a secret, you can’t say her name out loud or Dean will never let me hear the end of it.”  
  
“Dean isn’t here.” Cas smiled conspiratorially. “So, how is she?”  
  
Sam shook his bangs out of his eyes and sighed. “Still older than me, still more popular than me, and still just my Tuesday afternoon Spanish tutor.”  
  
“I don’t understand why you won’t just ask her out.” Cas frowned. “That is the custom when you have a romantic interest in a girl, yes?”  
  
“Yeah, but…” Sam sighed and put the book down. “She’s really pretty, and smart, and I’m just Dean Winchester’s little brother.”  
  
“That’s no way to define yourself, you’re an individual, and no one sees you as simply that.”  
  
“No, that’s what she called me. For about two weeks. Literally she would call me ‘minidean’.”  
  
“Ah.”   
  
“I’m just the short, quiet, nerdy version of the guy who dated three girls at once and threw that one kid out of a window.” Sam grumbled, crumpling up a piece of paper and throwing it across the room at the trashcan. He missed horribly.  
  
“Oh, I did hear about that. Thankfully it was on the first floor…” Cas leaned over to pick up the wad of anger paper.  
  
“I’m the kind of kid that doesn’t get the pretty girls, I’m the kind that gets stuffed into lockers and has people pee on their gym clothes.”  
  
“Wait. Has that been happening? Because you should tell Dean about that.”  
  
Sam shook his head. “No! And that’s the problem, everyone knows I’m a Winchester, and everyone knows if they even look at me the wrong way, Dean will find a way to legally torture and kill them. And,” He looked at Cas teasingly. “It doesn’t help that people see me with the guy who broke three of Alastair’s teeth. You know, someone bumped into me the other day and I dropped some of my stuff, and he almost cried when he apologized, he was so terrified I was going to set you on him.”  
  
“That’s ridiculous.”  
  
“I know, dude, I’m just saying it’s hard to follow bad-boy Dean Winchester with the classic car  _and_  the mysterious, soulful and troubled Castiel Novak. Like, half of the girls in my class doodle your names in little hearts on their notebooks, how am I supposed to compete with that?” Sam huffed. “Not to mention how short I am.”  
  
Cas sighed. “Sam, you’re still very young. My freshman year? It was my first year not being home-schooled  and I was short, nerdy, quiet, and wore only clothing Anna had picked out for me. I was every bully’s target. Why do you think I started taking martial arts lessons?”  
  
“Yeah, but you-“  
  
“Sam. You’re very intelligent, caring, and extremely funny when you come out of your shell. You are much more than Dean’s younger brother, and soon you’ll find a girl who recognizes that. And who knows? You may soon hit a growth spurt that has you towering all of us.”   
  
Sam laughed. “Yeah, okay, sure.”  
  
“In the meantime, don’t ever try to change who you are, and don’t let other peoples’ perception of you influence how you see yourself. You are worth far more than that.”  
  
“Thanks, Cas.” The tiny boy said, smiling at him. “I think this is the part where I tease you about chick-flick moments and retreat back into my box of emotional repression.”  
  
“Oh, no.” Cas’ eyes widened. “Oh, you are minidean, oh god, I had hoped you might make it out alive, but maybe it’s in the Winchester blood.” He sighed dramatically. “It’s truly a curse.”  
  
Sam grinned at him. “Nah, don’t worry, I think I’m safe.”  
  
“I’m glad.” Cas smiled. “Well, I came over to help Dean with some History work, but he seems to have gone out. Any idea where he is?”  
  
“Nah, sorry.”  
  
“That’s fine. Well, his loss, I’m an excellent tutor. Anything you might need?”  
  
Sam’s smile got even bigger. “That’d be awesome! Physics is killing me, all these formulas and variables and constants make me wish the ground would open up and swallow me whole.”  
  
“Well, that sounds drastic. I’ll see what I can do to keep you from plunging into the depths of Hell.” Cas rolled up his sleeves in mock preparation, then sat down next to Sam on the bed and ruffled his hair.  
  
“Augh! NO!’ Sam flailed on the bed. “You were so close! You were the one person who had never ruffled my hair! You are tainted! Ruined forever! This can never be undone!” He threw himself back against the bed. “This will never be forgiven.”  
  
“I… apologize?”  Cas patted Sam’s knee in apology.  
  
“Dont touch me, heathen.”  
  
“Well.” Cas sighed, then slowly lifted himself from the bed. “I suppose… I’ll just go help someone else with their Physics homework, someone who does not know of my crimes against humanity.”  
  
Sam bolted up. “No, no, I can forgive it!”  
  
“How big of you.”  
  
“Ey, no short jokes.” Sam narrowed his eyes as Cas’s fingertips brushed his hair as the sat down. “Don’t make me hurt you.”  
  
Cas just laughed, and pulled the Physics textbook off the desk. Sam grabbed his homework out of his backpack and the two of them set to work, unaware of Dean, who was watching them from the crack between the wall and the almost-closed door, a giant smile breaking on his face.  
  
 **————————**  
 **Early November**  
  
 _Do you know how goddamn boring History would be without you? I’d put a gun in my mouth._  
  
Dean sighed and tried to relax in his chair, but he was a little wary of Todd and how close he was sitting. He flicked his eyes to Mr. Raimann, who was rambling on about women’s rights in the colonies or something.  _Breathe in, breathe out, don’t think about the empty seat next to Cas, don’t wish you were sitting there, don’t think about Todd. Don’t talk to Todd. Don’t let him talk to you about his PSAT preparations, don’t move, don’t blink too much he can sense fear._  
  
Todd adjusted his glasses silently, eyeing Dean. _God, he’s got more craters than the moon. Hey, Todd, do you wash your face with pizza and tears of rejection? Please stay very far away from me; I don’t want to catch something._  Todd leaned back in his chair, and Dean could very clearly see ‘THIS IS MY BOOM STICK’ emblazoned on his t-shirt.   
  
“Okay, now, we’ve got some ground to cover here, guys, so lets partner up, whoever is sitting next to you is fine. “  
  
 _Dear lord, someone kill me._  Dean turned around to watch as Cas was paired up with Casey and Rebecca, two girls who were currently: a, fighting for the title of cheer captain, b, wearing skirts that barely covered anything, and c, eyeing Cas like he was a fountain of cold water in the middle of the Sahara. He did not like those looks. He turned, but brace-face Todd was already scooting closer to him. He glanced down and yup, he was still wearing those god-awful brown corderoy pants. Todd adjusted his glasses and place a pen inside his shirt pocket ( _no pocket protector? come on, Todd, show a little respect for the classics)_

“Hey Dean.” Todd said with a grin. “What’r the odds, huh? You and I being paired together on something like this? Must be fate.”

“Actually, I’d say it’s the fact that this was the only seat left in the classroom not next to someone who’d like to eat my kidneys.”

“Like I said, fate.” Todd smiled, and Dean noticed a bit of spinach wedged in his braces.

“Yeah, dude, whatever, let’s just fill out this worksheet on…” He lifted the paper. “The social dynamic of Pre-Revolutionary America, and then we can never speak to eachother again. Deal?”

“Ooh, playing hard to get are we?” Todd chuckled and ran a hand through his hair. “Suit yourself, handsome.”

Todd Kinsey was that nerd in every teen movie who thought he was god’s gift and could get any girl he wanted. Which Dean wouldn’t have minded, you know, whatever man, delusions are delusions, but Todd Kinsey had recently decided he was just as interested in the guys as he was in the girls. So now Todd Kinsey hit on anything that moved, and Dean was his target for a whole class period. That meant fifty minutes of trying to let the deluded nerd down gently, and resisting the overwhelming urge to punch him in the face whenever he got  _too. fucking. damn. CLOSE Todd, jesus christ, breathe on my neck a little more you psycho_

And yet, God never answered his prayers and made Todd explode, so Dean settled for attempting to light him on fire with his mind.

_————————_   
**Mearly October**

  
“So, I saw you with Sammy.” Dean said, pulling out of the school parking lot.  
  
“When?” Cas turned in the Impala’s passenger seat to look at him.  
  
“The other day,” Dean turned the wheel lazily. “When you were helping him with his Physics homework.”  
  
“Was that… bad? Sorry, I couldn’t find you, and he was confused, so I thought I could help him, a little-“  
  
“Dude, no, it’s frickin’ awesome.” Dean grinned at him. “Except for Jo, none of my friends have ever really acknowledged Sam. They just think of him as some kid, you know? And the way I’m always teasing him- just, that stuff you said? About him being more than just  my kid brother? I’m glad someone finally said that to him.”  
  
“He’s a good kid.”  
  
“Oh, don’t I know it. Smart, too. A lot smarter than me. He just… he needs to know he’s got people that believe in him. People who don’t have to just ‘cause they’re family, you know?”  
  
“I think I do, yes.” Cas smiled. “Winchesters, in my experience, tend to not realize how special they are, or how important. Hopefully I’ll always be around to remind them how much they’re worth.”  
  
Cas looked out the window then, and did not see Dean beam at him, eyes filled with something that might be called love.  
  
 **————————**  
 **Mlate October**  
  
  
“Okay, when did Cas become a poster boy for the hashtag army?”  
  
“Hello to you too.” Jo smirked and stole one of Dean’s french fries as they waited for the rest of their friends to come to lunch.  
  
“No, seriously Jo. He’s wearing a sweater over a button-down shirt today.”  
  
“And?”  
  
“And a fucking bowtie!” Dean hissed, trying to keep their conversation a little private.  
  
“Oh, good, he found his ties, I gave him this awesome burgundy one and I really hoped Gabe hadn’t lost it.” She smiled and took a swig of her juice. “What’s your problem? Cas can wear whatever he likes.”  
  
“Yeah, but-” Dean sighed. “Jo, he’s like, a hipster-type-thing. All he needs is an old Nikon and a man purse. We don’t  _have_ hipster friends.” Dean was absolutely not worrying about his own image. That was wayyy too teen drama for his liking. But still. They were the misfits of the school, not the instagram mafia.  
  
Jo laughed so hard she almost spit out a bit of her juice, much to Dean’s amusement. After coughing a bit, she croaked out “You’re kidding, right?”  
  
“No…?”  
  
“Dean. Honey. The Novaks are like the fucking hipster brigade. Seriously, we’ve been hanging out with Anna and Gabe for how long? And Cas may have been sticking to the bare essentials, and some questionable t-shirt he’s borrowed from Luc, but come on. He’s got like twenty v-necks in assorted shades of  _dark_.” Jo coughed again, but laughed as well. “I can’t believe you haven’t noticed you’re friends with- I mean, do you just completely ignore Gabriel? Like, does he even register in your line of vision?”  
  
Dean vaguely remembers Gabriel wearing like ninety pieces of clothing when they first met, but honestly can’t recall what he or Anna have ever worn since, other than vague memories of a couple shirts she wore that were nice and low-cut. He shrugs and Jo sighs dramatically.  
  
“You’re hopeless, you know that? God, how do you even manage to pass the classes you share?”   
  
“The classes I share with who?” Dean steals some of her french fries right back.  
  
Jo laughs, mocking and a little condescending. “Oh, Dean Dean Dean.” She shakes her head sadly. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out eventually.”  
  
 **————————**  
  
And he did. Well, maybe not so much the class sharing thing, still no clue what Jo was implying. But he did get the whole hipster brigade thing. It was cemented for him the night of one of the three art shows of the year; Anna and Cas both had pieces in the show, so the entire Novak clan showed up, piling out of different, but all expensive, cars. Jo and Dean were waiting, leaned against the Impala, when the five Novaks started walking towards them.  
  
Dean’s jaw may have dropped a bit, and Jo glanced at him and laughed. “Told you they were like a hipster mob.”  
  
“Are they… am I crazy or are they walking in slow-motion?” And they seriously looked like they were in some sort of weird photoshoot thing, walking epicly, with their hair blowing dramatically in the wind.  
  
“Yeah… pretty sure most ad company reps would sell their souls to sign the Novaks.” Jo whistled softly.  
  
And Dean would second that whistle if he wasn’t trying to comprehend how one family could churn out so many attractive children. Because  _holy shit._  Cas and Anna led the group, Cas in a waistcoat and black tie, with his permanent sex hair and looking like he belonged on the cover of GQ, and Anna in a flowing dark green dress that fell above the knee on the left and around mid-calf on the right, her hair curled and swept to one side. A little behind Cas was Gabe, in a truly outrageous multi-colored sweater that fell off one shoulder and some aviators, as well as some striped light blue and pink pants. He had on some multi-colored Oxfords and his hair had been haphazardly combed. Even Dean had to admit he was an attractive, um, man-thing. Next to him, Dean knew from Cas’ identifications of a few family photos, was Lucifer, or Luc, as everyone with some sense called him, and Michael, the oldest. Luc, because life imitates art, was obviously the rebel of the family,  clad in black pants (covered in rips, of course) with shiny silver studs running up the sides, a pair of heavy black combat boots, a ripped up black sweater and blood red gauges in his ears. He looked like the troubled guitar player in some alternative rock band that a million girls would sell their soul and three internal organs to sleep with. Michael, being the oldest and most responsible (or so Anna told him) was wearing in a light blue polo, douchebag shades, and khaki pants. He was definitely the guy every parent wanted their daughter to marry; handsome, intelligent, and successful. They had all stepped out of different _kinds_  of fashion magazines, of course, but obviously the Novak family were just a bunch of undercover models posing as a highschool family and testing out the latest trends on a receptive teen audience.  
  
Either that or they were actual angels, because no human family could be that attractive.  
  
As the pack crossed the parking lot, Dean considered three options: either they were walking purposefully in slow motion (which Dean doubted because how the hell would they have convinced Cas to do that), Dean was imagining things and just a little surprised to see so much attractive in one place, or they were so fucking majestic that time itself had slowed down to appreciate their awesome. In all honesty, it was probably the third one.  
  
“Hello Dean.” Cas smiled at him as Jo ran up to Anna, cotton and denim colliding with green silk (that or something even more fancy) as they hugged. “I don’t believe you’ve met Luc or Michael….”  
  
“Oh, we have heard so much about you, Dean.” Luc smiled, his eyes bright.  
  
“Really?”  
  
“Nah. Honestly, I couldn’t remember what your name was until Cas said it. But hey, nice to meet you. Sorta.” Luc smirked, and Michael frowned at him.  
  
“You’re terrible at introductions, you know that?” He sighed, and Dean was reminded of how he behaved with Sammy; always insulting, but the insults were said with undenyable affection. “I’m Michael Novak.”  
  
“Dean Winchester.” Dean shook the hand Michael extended. The man gripped his hand tightly and his eyes seemed to dare Dean to let go at his own risk.  
  
“Michael.” Anna said softly. “ _Michael_. Is this the time?”  
  
“Michael, you might wanna let go…”  
  
“Yes, do refrain from breaking his hand, or he may break your face-“  
  
“Shut up, Gabe.”  
  
“Make me, Harvelle.”  
  
“I forget, Gabe, were you two fu-“  
  
“Luc! Not the time.”  
  
“Just a simple question, calm down Annie Bananie.”  
  
“Mm, bananas…”  
  
“Actually, what is wrong with you?”  
  
“Oh don’t pretend you don’t like a good banana, both the fruit and the-“  
  
“Gabe! Oh my  _god_.”  
  
“Um… can I have my hand back?”  
  
“Mikey, you’re intimidating Cas’ boyfriend.”  
  
“Luc, he’s not my-“  
  
“Michael, Jesus Christ, let him go, you are the  _worst_  at first impressions.”  
  
“Michael, Anna’s taking the Lord’s name in vaaa-ain.”  
  
“Michael, I would prefer it if you released Dean.”  
  
“Michael, Lucifer is corny as Kansas in August, high as the flag on the fourth of July-“  
  
“It’s very nice to meet you, Dean.” Michael smiled, and (finally!) let go of his hand. “Gabriel, don’t stick your fingers in Luc’s ears, please, we’re trying to at least pretend we’re a normal, sane family for about an hour, then he can get back to his motorcycle and you can get back to… whatever it is you do.”  
  
Michael smiled at Dean, who was struck by the sudden feeling that his entire life and all his choices had just been reviewed and evaluated at once.  
  
“He has that effect on people.” Cas sighed, not having to ask why Dean looked so uncomfortable.  
  
“Anna, dear, you’d tell us if you were a lesbian, yes?”  
  
“Gabriel!”  
  
“Just asking, Jesus.”  
  
“Hey, Cas, I’ll give you ten bucks if you eat that worm.”  
  
“That’s…. not a worm.”  
  
“Hey! Mustache! Sweet!”  
  
“Gabriel, Jesus, get that off your face, you don’t know where it’s been!”  
  
“We know exactly where it’s been; in a gasoline-and-probably-vomit soaked high school parking lot.”  
  
“Gabe, seriously, ten bucks. They’re all yours.”  
  
“Gabriel, don’t.”  
  
“It’s fine Jo, not the first time he’s had some weird, tiny, dirty thing in his mouth.”  
  
“Nahh, that’s Cas’ department. I mean, we are talking about Dean’s co-“  
  
“Gabriel. Please stop.”  
  
“Yes, can we not compare strange parking lot garbage to genitals right now, I have an art show to go to and could do without the mental scarring.”  
  
“Your wish is my command, little sis.”  
  
“Can do, baby sister.”  
  
“Gabriel, you are  _three minutes_  older than her.”  
  
“Yes, hence the baby.”  
  
“Gab- Gabriel, what are you doing? Gabriel. No, get that away from my face! God, how are we from the same womb- GET AWAY! Michael, do something!”  
  
“VIVA LA REVOLUCION!!”  
  
“Oh, goodness gracious Michael, the children are behavin’ ever so badly, you done made a mess of things.”  
  
“Luc, really? What kind of accent is that supposed to be?”  
  
“Well, I was going for a sort-of Southern belle type voice-“  
  
“RED!”  
  
“That was terrible, I thought you were good at accents.”  
  
“THE BLOOD OF ANGRY MEN!”  
  
“Don’t hate, appreciate.”  
  
“WHITE!”  
  
“You know, you could- god, Gabriel, shut up- you could try being mature for half a second-“  
  
“THE COLOR OF SUPREMACY!”  
  
“Ah, but where- no really, Gabe, please stop shouting songs you don’t know the words to- where’s the fun in that?”  
  
“BLUE!”  
  
“You’re twenty-one, Luc, maturity is kind of expected - Gabriel, I swear to all that is holy if you swing that damn branch in my face one more time-“  
  
“THE COLOR OF MICHAEL’S BALLS!”  
  
“Gabriel, for god’s sake, you don’t even know the damn lyrics!”  
  
“OI, JE SUIS GABRIEL! MAN ZE BARRECADES, FIGHT FOR LOVE AND MENAGE A TROIS EVERYVERE!”  
  
“Gabriel, give me tha-“  
  
“You can take ze stick, but you can nevah take ze spirit! Do you hear ze people sing? Sing ze song of nancy men, it ees a song of a people who like mustaches and bread!”  
  
“I will give you fifty dollars right now if you shoot me in the head.”  
  
Dean, eyes wide and shell-shocked, raised an eyebrow in Cas’ direction, and the younger boy sighed, the deep, long-suffering sigh of someone who has to live in a house full of badly trained lemurs on cocaine. “Yes, they’re always like this.”  
  
“Oh,  _good_.”

 **————————**  
 **Early November**  
  
Cas groaned as he heard muffled footsteps coming up the stairs and prepared himself for the worst. He pulled a blanket over himself in a half-hearted attempt to pretend he was sleeping, though he knew it wouldn’t work. He heard the door to his room creak open and prepared himself for the blows.

“CASTIEL!!!”

“CA-ssie!!”

“Cas, darling!”

Cas groaned as three large shapes propelled themselves onto his bed, and more importantly, onto him.

“Gabriel,” He wheezed. “Anna, Luc.”

“Why hello there baby brother.” Luc called from where he was laying on Cas’ legs.

“We just thought we might-“

“Stop by and say hello since you are-“

“Currently all downtroddeny because Dean Winchester-“

“Is a jerkface and called you a naive virgin-“

“Which is so not cool and he definitely deserves the silent-“

“Treatment you’re giving him, but he is your best friend-“

“And we know you miss the douchenozzle, so we thought-“

“That it’s obviously time for some old-fashion sibling intervention and chocolate, though-“

“The chocolate is mostly for me.”

Gabriel and Anna had lifted themselves from Cas’ body by that point, and were grinning from opposite sides of him.

“ _Man,_ it’s freaky when you do that twin shit.” Lucifer said, still face-down and with the majority of his weight on Cas’ legs.

“Hey An?”

“Yeah Gabe?”

“Do we care-“

“What Satanface thinks? No, I don’t think we do…” Anna grinned and ruffled her older brothers hair.

“Ey! You’ll muss it up.” Lucifer sat up and glanced at Cas’ mirror. “Phew, it’s okay. You didn’t completely ruin it.”

“I’m sorry, how is this supposed to be helping me?” Cas grumbled into his pillow.

“Oh, Castiel, forgot you were there.”

“You can just call me Cas, you know.”

“But… that’s the name he-who-must-not-be-named gave you.” Gabriel said in a harsh whisper.

“No,” Cas sat up, pulling the blanket with him. “That’s the name our father gave me, just shortened. And… I like it.”

“You know,” Anna smiled. “It’s about time you got a nickname, it was so weird being Mike, Luc, Anna, Gabe, and _Castiel_.”

“You’re forgetting Uriel.”

“Yeah, because he’s around so much.” Luc rolled his eyes. “Him and Raph have formed this adopted-kids-dont-play-well-with-others book club or something, have you noticed?”

“Oh yeahhh,” Gabriel stroked an imaginary beard. “I have noticed that they’re around even less than normal, but, I dunno, they were never all that close to us, it’s-“

“Probably that they were adopted too late to actually grow up with the rest of us so we never really felt like they were family?” Anna smiled.

“Couldn’t’ve said it better myself.”

“Okay, you two really need to stop that shit.” Luc shook his head. “Cas, back me up here.”

“It is a little offputting.”

“I don’t like it.” Luc frowned.

“No one likes it.”

“It’s almost like-” Luc started.

“One brain sharing two mouths and it’s just-” Cas interrupted

“Weird.” Luc finished for him, then beamed at his little brother.

Cas’ lips tilted upward in what was very close to a smile.

“Ew, stop.” Gabriel said, throwing a chocolate wrapper at Cas’ head. “That’s our thing.”

“Anyway,” Anna smiled. “Cas Novak, your cheer-up party is here to get you our of your bed and onto the couch for an awesome so-dumb-they’re-funny movie marathon. And when I say get you out of bed-“

“She means-“

“By any.” Gabriel stood up, a wicked glint in his eyes.

“Means.” Lucifer followed, towering over all of them and smirking at Cas.

“Necessary.” Anna stood up and crossed her arms resolutely, and Cas knew resistance would be seven different kinds of futile.

He wasn't entirely sure if he hated his siblings or loved them with all his heart.

Funny how often those things came hand in hand.

  
**————————**   
**Mid November**

  
“So. We marathoning Doctor Who or Star Wars tonight? Cause I wanna introduce Sammy to the Ponds.”  
  
Cas turned away from Dean and pretended to be looking for something in his locker. “Dean, I can’t come over tonight.”  
  
Dean’s face fell. “Michael, right?”  
  
“No. I- I have a date. With Meg.” Cas said, mumbling into the emptiness of his locker, then finally pulling out a green folder he didn’t need and turning to face an incredulous Dean.  
  
“Sorry, dude, musta accidentally dropped some LSD and hallucinated for a minute there. Could’ve sworn you said you had a date with the Devil.”  
  
“That would be incest.” Cas said with a small, uncomfortable smirk, but Dean didn’t laugh. “Because… Lucifer? My brother? No?”  
  
“Cas, do not try to distract me by faking a sense of humor. You have a date with Meg. Meg Masters. The whore of Babylon.”   
  
“Don’t be so overdramatic.” Cas rolled his eyes, a gesture Dean was regretting teaching him.  
  
“I will be as overdramatic as I damn well want. Explain yourself.”  
  
“You’re always telling me I should find someone. So I found someone.”  
  
“Yeah, Satan.”  
  
“She’s not evil, Dean. You just don’t like her. That doesn’t mean I can’t. Besides, she’s been there for me, and as of late, you have not.”  
  
Dean took a step back. “Dude, c’mon.”  
  
Cas’ eyes showed his guilt at bringing up a sore subject, but he didn’t waver. “Sorry. I know, we’ve moved past this, but it does not negate the fact that Meg and I have a certain… bond between us.”  
  
“Is this about Halloween? It is, isn’t it? Dude, just ‘cause you guys hooked up does not mean you have a frickin’ bond!” Dean said, shaking his head.  
  
“I realize.” Cas sighed. “She’s not the only girl I’ve ever been with, Dean.”  
  
Dean’s eyes widened involuntarily. “Wait. What? Wait. What? Wait- Who? Why didn’t you tell me?”  
  
“We weren’t speaking.”  
  
“Who?!” Dean was suddenly aware that the two of them are arguing very publically in front of Cas’ locker, and he gestured for Cas to follow him outside. He’s Cas, so he did.  
  
“Daphne Allen. We went on a few dates.” Cas muttered.  
  
“A few dates? Jesus, Cas. Next time, you tell me, okay?” Dean really should not care this much about his friend’s relationships, but he’s gonna ignore that for the moment. “How did that even happen? She’s like, a preacher’s daughter, right?”  
  
“She is.”  
  
“So?” How did you guys, you know, hook up?”  
  
“Very simply, light kissing at first-“  
  
“Dude!” Dean groaned and wished to hell he didn’t find Cas’ ultra-literalness so endearing. “I mean, like, did you like her? How’d you meet? What happened?” He threw his backback on the grass and flopped down next to it. He watched as Cas placed his backpack on the ground and lowers himself next to Dean.  
  
“She has very nice eyes. I noticed them, and complimented her. I asked her out, she accepted. I met her father, we had a mild debate about religion but he seemed nice. Daphne and I- we just didn’t have enough in common. Things ended amicably.” Cas smiled softly, and Dean absolutely did not hate Daphne for being the one who made Cas smile so lovingly.  
  
“And Meg?” Dean sighed. “What happened there?”  
  
“She- when you and I weren’t speaking, she kept me company when my siblings were tiresome. We grew close.”  
  
“I bet you did,” Dean muttered.  
  
“We haven’t so much as kissed since Halloween, Dean.”  
  
Now that was a new one. Usually Meg liked to get right to it, it couldn’t be that she actually like being with Cas, could it? Gross. “You know what?” Dean ran a hand through his hair. “It’s your life. Do what you want. Just… no pregnancy scares, okay Don Juan?”  
  
“Don who?” Cas frowned and tilted his head, and Dean just grinned at him like an idiot.


	7. In Which Lisa is the Best Girlfriend Ever

“Baby brother, we gotta talk.”

Cas turned in his desk chair and watched as Gabriel closed the door behind him as he entered Cas’ room. “A closed-door conversation? The last time we had one of these you were telling me about your bisexuality.”

“Yes, and having to explain to you exactly what that was will forever be a highlight of my life. But that’s not what I wanna talk to you about.”

Cas frowned and moved over to sit next to Gabriel on the bed. “Gabriel, are you alright?”

“Me? Right as rain, lil’ bro.” Gabriel put a hand on Cas’ shoulder. “I’m here to talk about  _you._ ”

“Have I… done something? I swear, I had nothing to do with the chocolate milk, or the broken headphones, or the ripped sweater.”

“No, nothing li- what happened to my headphones?”

“Um. Nothing?” Cas smiled meekly and Gabriel rolled his eyes. 

“I love how bad of a liar you are, baby bro, it makes you so easy to read; and speaking of which, you’re gay for Dean, right?”

Cas froze, eyes wide and mouth open. It took him a few seconds, but he collected his nerves enough to eloquently say “Wha- no, we- he- I- erm.”

”Yeah, thought so.” Gabriel smirked at him. “And let me guess. He… got your hopes up at Halloween, but then everything came a’ crashing down and he asked out Lisa and then you got busy with our girl Meg. I miss anythin’?”

“Yes. No.” Cas sighed and put his head in his hands. “I don’t know!” He grumbled into his palms.

“Well, you like him right? Like, more than a friend, kissing-and-holding-hands-and-buttsex like him?”

It was a sign of Cas’ current discomfort that he did not frown in disapproval at Gabriel’s language. “Yes. No. I don’t know?”

Gabriel patted him on the back, which he was pretty sure was meant to be a comforting gesture. “It’s pretty simple, Cas, either you like him or you don’t.”

“I don’t know, Gabe!” Cas cried, running his hands through his hair. “You know, before this year, I had no friends outside our immediate family? I’ve never had friends, period; and I previously thought I was asexual!” 

“Wait, real-“

“And then Dean comes along and he likes me for me, and doesn’t find me weird or unsettling and he’s wonderful and the best friend I could ever have hoped for and he’s loyal and generous and endearing and-” Cas shook his head. “And I don’t know if I’m falling in love with him because I can’t tell if it’s just how I react to friendship.”

“Well, Cas, it’s pretty simple. When you’re around him, do you feel tingly?” Cas made a face. “No, not just in your sexy bits, all over. Do you feel happier with him around? Do you feel comfortable in who you are, like you can be your strange-socially-awkward self and not worry about losing him, because he likes you enough to want to stay? Cas, you’ve read enough books about it to know what love feels like; is it what you feel for Dean?”

Cas sighed, and closed his eyes tight. Then he whispered, soft and almost inaudible, “Yes.”

Gabriel beamed at his little brother. “That’s awesome, baby bro.”

Cas opened his eyes and fell backward on the bed. “I just don’t know what  _kind_  of love I feel.”

“Oh.” Gabriel’s face fell.

“I… I don’t think I’m sexually attracted to him.” Cas gulped and shut his eyes again. Maybe if he said it out loud enough he could convince himself. “I think I just love him, like a brother. I may have gotten confused for a time and thought something different, but now- now he’s like a brother to me, and I’m very happy he found Lisa. Now I can move past this confusion and find someone for myself.”

“Well, if that’s true, then yay! you for figuring it out.” Gabriel smiled and patted him on the knee. “Just… make sure that friendship is all you want before you settle for it, kay lil’ bro?”

————————

Dean pulled out the chair and placed his lunch tray on the table. “Jo. Dr. Badass. ‘Ho.” He said with a smirk, nodding to Jo, Ash, and Meg.

“You’re hilarious. Come up with that all by yourself?” Meg rolled her eyes from where she was sitting across from him. 

“As a matter of fact, I did.” Dean nudged Jo with his shoulder. “You’re coming over tonight at like eight, right? Your mom’s got some… book-club thing?”

“Ugh, please can I?” Jo said, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “I don’t know why she goes to that stupid book club, she hates those women as much as I do. And it means she can’t go in to work at the bar, which always stresses her out.” She rolled her eyes, stealing a chicken nugget off Dean’s plate.

Anna crossed the cafeteria to their table, then sat down smiling next to Jo. “Ladies; Ash.” She nodded, smiling at them.

Dean leaned across the table. “Ey. I’m here too, ginge.”

“I know, I saw you.” She smirked, then turned to Jo. “Ohmigosh, so much news.”

“Did it?” Jo said, eyes lighting up.

“It did!” Anna beamed. The two of them did that girl thing where they made a high pitched joint squeal and waved their hands around a lot. “I told you it would, it was practically made to be, oh we’re all so excited.” Dean rolled his eyes and looked across the table to where Ash was sitting next to Meg, who was watching Anna and Jo out of the corner of her eye.

“I swear, sometimes I think girls have the ability to read everyone’s minds and just never tell the rest of us.” He sighed, picking at the meat on his plate.

“Amen, bro.” Ash sighed, typing lazily on one of his laptops.

“Ash, I thought we said no computers at the table.” Meg scolded, poking him with her fork.

“Hey, leave him alone, skankmonster.”

“Oh, fuck off, Dean.” Meg rolled her eyes.

“Dean, you might wanna stop being so mean to Meg.” Anna said, leaning over the table so she could see him.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Meg is such a lady, how could I forget, mistress Masters I apo-” The rest of Dean’s sentence faded into silence as Cas approached the table and sat down quietly next to Meg.

_What._

_The._

_Fuck._

Dean stared at him, and not for no reason, oh no. He had a very legitimate reason for his current bafflement. Their lunch table had a very clear seating arrangement. It went Kali, Gabriel, Cas, Dean, Jo, Anna, Chuck, Ash, Meg, Lisa. The spot next to Dean was open. To repeat: the spot next to Dean was  _open._  Which meant it should be occupied by Cas, and the spot next to Meg should be occupied by Lisa. It was just how the world worked. He felt like he had been thrown into some alternate universe as he said “Hey, Cas.” 

Cas turned to look at him sheepishly. “Hello, Dean.”

“Hey Cas.” Anna said, beaming at her little brother. “How’s your day going?”

He blushed. “Fine, thank you.”

The table was silent as Cas took a long drink of his water. Meg was looking straight down at her plate, Ash was absorbed in his laptop, but all other eyes were on Cas.

“Oh for chrissake.” Jo said, grinning. “Let’s all just say what we’re thinking, shall we?”

Anna grinned at her best friend, then turned her gaze back to Cas. “Cas? Meg? Do we have to ask?”

Cas put the glass down, then slowly turned to Meg, a question in his eyes. She looked at him and sighed slowly, blushing as she did. Meg closed her eyes and sighed again, then lifted her arm from where it sat under the table. Her fingers were intertwined with Cas’, and he beamed at her.

Anna squealed and clapped her hands together. “I’m so happy for you two, oh my god this is so exciting!!” 

Jo beamed, too. “Oh, I knew it, Meg, you terrible liar. ‘oh it’s just some guy, nothing serious’ my ass. I told Anna that our little megsters was smitten, and I  _so_  called it.”

“Oh, shut up.” Meg said, but smiled anyway.

Dean barely registered what they were saying; he was staring at Cas like he’d just revealed he wanted to sign up for America’s Next Top Model. “Wait, hold on.” Everyone turned to look at him. “Are you two… together? Like, a couple? Like, boyfriend and girlfriend?”

“Mm, I don’t like labels.” Meg shook her head. “I’m no one’s girlfriend.” She turned to look at Cas, then back at Dean. “But yes, shitbrain, we’re together now.” Cas smiled at her, eyes all full of love and trust, and she gave him a little shove away from her because Meg doesn’t like affection. Cas kissed her on the cheek anyway, and she smiled a little bit before throwing a piece of lettuce at him.

“Huh.” And that was all Dean said. He didn’t say anything when lunch ended and Cas walked Meg to her next class, still holding her hand, and as a result was late to History. He didn’t say anything when Cas passed him a note that said _I’m told a double date with your best friend is expected in these circumstances, do you think Lisa would enjoy that?_ , didn’t even peep when he scribbled  _sure dude ill ask her_  and pushed the little paper back to him. He also didn’t puke, as much as he wanted to, which he considered a major accomplishment. He drove Sam home in silence, blasting Sabbath and pretending to enjoy it, ignoring Sam’s questioning glances. He was quiet as he went up to his room, pretending to be doing homework. Quiet as he climbed out of his window and stalked out into the middle of the car-graveyard Bobby kept. Quiet as he put a bat through one of the car windows. Quiet as he considered what an idiot he was being, quiet as he tried to convince himself he wasn’t losing Cas.

Quiet as it didn’t work.

————————

“I thought we agreed you were gonna tell me about your love life from now on.”

“We’ve been romantically involved for over a week, and you’re just now bringing this up?” Cas sighed, and spun around slightly in his desk chair. “Regardless, I told you about my dates with Meg.”

“Ermm, no.” Dean grinned at him, but didn’t feel it. “You told me about the first one, Novak. What, you don’t trust me?”

“No, it’s not that, it’s just…” Cas sighed. “Meg and I went out to dinner, to the park, to the library. That doesn’t exactly compare to your ‘marathon-sex’ with Lisa. I-” He looked down at the carpet. “I assumed it would bore you.”

Dean sighed, and sat up on Cas’ bed. “Seriously? Cas, best friend, remember? I’m used to you boring me.” He laughed and dodged the pencil Cas threw at his head. “You’re a crap shot, Novak.” 

“You’re insufferable.”

“And you throw like a girl. Hit like one too.” Dean smirked and turned to Cas’ bedside table. “Hmm. Surprised you don’t have an issue of Cosmo here, dude. And there is a surprising lack of frilly dresses in your closet. You keep those hidden, or…?”

And that was when Cas decided to tackle Dean to the ground. Dean most certainly did not yelp pathetically in surprise.

“Dude, what the-” Dean looked up at Cas’ smirking face. 

“Could a girl do this?” Cas said, growling from above Dean, where the younger boy was straddling him, and had his arms pinned above his head.  _You are not turned on, you are not turned on, come on dude, you do this with other guys all the time, it’s not gay, you are absolutely not going to grind upwards, nope, nope not turned on at all, haha of course not play it cool dude get angry flip him over punch him in the face whatever DO SOMETHING LESS GAY_

So he fought back, flipping Cas onto the floor, and used his momentary surprise to trap him, but Cas recovered and they rolled around for a bit, struggling and wrestling like five-year-olds. Finally Cas pinned him again, for real this time, so Dean couldn’t move if he tried.

“Give up yet?” Cas said, and that was when Dean realized that not only was Cas on top of him, but there was about an inch of space between their- well, you know. And Cas was straddling him. And he was out of breath. And centimeters from Dean’s face.

It was entirely possible Cas had lit him on fire, based on the all-encompassing heat Dean was feeling. It pooled in his stomach and spread through him, hot and warm and delicious and he thought that if he was on fire, and he was actually dying, this was pretty much the best way to go  _ever_.

“Yeah.” Dean said, suddenly breathless. “You got me.” He breathed, not even a whisper but it felt like he was screaming.

Cas’s eyes stared into his, pools of blue blocked out by his pupils, which were huge, and Dean tried to remember whether that was a good thing or not. Their faces were close, and there it was. That electricity, that feeling of tension and Dean froze, terrified of breaking whatever the hell was between them. He blinked, and that was enough to almost miss when Cas’ eyes flicked to his lips quickly. As it was, he couldn’t be sure if it actually happened, or if he had imagined it.

He felt himself moving closer to Cas, and then he froze; so close that Dean would barely have to move to be kissing him. He could feel Cas’ warm breath against his mouth, saw his eyes dark and staring into Dean’s, heard-

“CAS!! CASTIEL!! I REALLY HOPE YOU’RE NOT HAVING SEX UP THERE BECAUSE OUR UNCLE IS PULLING UP LIKE, RIGHT NOW!!”

Dean was going to make Gabriel eat his own kidneys.

Cas snapped up, and quickly got up from Dean, who scrambled to get off the floor.

“Shit, Dean, I’m sorry, you have to go.”

“Your uncle’s here? I didn’t even know you  _had_  an uncle.”

“My uncle Zachariah, yes, and-” Cas ran a hand through his hair and froze as they both heard the sound of the doorbell. “Fuck. Oh, fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, you have to leave. You have to leave  _now._ ”

And as entertaining as hearing Cas actually swear was, Dean wisely chose not to comment on it, due to the present really confusing circumstances. Dean reached for his jacket, which was laying on Cas’ bed. “Sure, dude, lemme just-“

“Not out the door.” Cas said, reaching for Dean’s arm, and Dean wisely decided to ignore the little rush of heat he felt at the touch, because how frickin’ girly was that?

“Well, I can’t very well go out through the ceiling ” Dean smirked. “Seriously, dude, what’s up? You aren’t allowed to have friends or something?”

“No, but trust me, you do not want to have to talk to my Uncle Zachariah. Ever.” Cas’ eyes flicked to the window. Dean followed his gaze.

“Oh, hell no. Dude, you’re on the third floor. I’ll  _die_.” Dean shook his head. “Seriously, your uncle can’t be that bad.”

“He’s worse. Trust me.” Dean rolled his eyes and moved towards the door, but Cas scurried in front of it and pressed his back to it. “Please Dean. I am  _begging_  you.”

“I will actually kill myself jumping out of that window.”

“No.” Cas rushed over to the window and pushed away the dark blue curtains, then slid the glass open. The screen was missing and directly outside was a huge tree branch. “You won’t.”

“Dude.” Dean said, eyes wide. “How did you not tell me about this?”

“It’s a secret. Only Anna knows about it. No one pays attention to the woods outside the house anyway.” Cas said with a smile. “Now please, get the fuck out.”

“Easy there, sailor mouth.” Dean smirked, and crossed over to the window, lifting himself out and onto the tree outside. “Don’t I get a kiss goodbye?” He said with a cocky grin as Cas rolled his eyes and shut both the window and the curtains.

————————

_Of all the days to get a ride from Cas._  Dean grumbled into the the dimming sunlight, wishing he had some money for bus fare. As it was, it seemed he’d just have to pay the Harvelles a visit and hope Ellen was feeling charitable. He moved quickly through the woods that separated their house from the Novaks’, because he really didn’t want to get lost in the creepy woods after the sun went down. He reached the house in no time, sliding away the window to Jo’s room on the first floor and climbing through. It was funny to think about how like actual brother and sister the two of them were. Jo looked up from her desk.

“Well, you look like shit.” She said, placing her textbook on the wooden surface with a grin.

Dean frowned, and looked into her mirror. He had smudges and little marks on his face from being hit with tree branches, and apparently he’d ripped a hole in the knee of his jeans along the way.

“Did Cas finally pound your ass into the carpet?” She said with a laugh.

“What?! No!” Dean said, in the middle of a minor heart attack, before he realized she meant the violent, non-sexy kind of pounding and put on his best nonchalant, not-gay face. Because apparently he had one of those.

“Shame. You’re kinda crap at being his best friend, you know that?”

“Excuse me?” Dean said, grabbing one of her shirts off the dresser, spitting into it, and beginning to rub the dirt off his face.

“Do you have to-” Jo sighed exasperatedly. “I hate you so much.”

“I.” Scrub. “Am the best friend.” He threw the shirt at her head. “Castiel Novak has ever had the pleasure of having.”

“Oh really?” Jo said. picking her pencil back up. “So, how come you still call Meg a trollop?”

“Okay, you have to admit that was hilari-“

“Not the point. She’s his girlfriend, idiot. And why aren’t you at Cas’ right now?” Jo said, eyeing him condescendingly.

Hoo, he’s got her there. “I actually just was, Joanna Beth. But his uncle came in, and I left. So there.”

Jo stared at him. “You left?” Dean nodded. “What the hell, Dean?”

“He asked me to!”

“Well, he’s just as stupid as you are.” Dean was very confused now.

“Wait, I go over to his house like every day, what’s the big deal?”

“Um, I dunno, maybe it’s that his uncle is there? Maybe he needs moral support?”

Dean laughed. “I think he can handle himself with his own uncle.”

Jo stared at him. Really, truly stared, and her gaze was full of a silent question. “Oh my god. You really don’t know. Cas… he didn’t tell you.”

Now Dean felt like an idiot. “Didn’t tell me what?”

Jo sighed exasperatedly and ran a hand through her hair. “Men. You’re all idiots, you know that? I can’t believe he didn’t tell you, stupid macho pride.”

“Hey!” Dean snapped in the air from his place on her bed. “You gonna tell me or not?”

Jo sighed. “The Novaks are going through a really rough time right now, Dean. Not necessarily Anna, Gabe, and Cas, but Raphael’s been arrested twice since they moved here, and Uriel is in and out of detention, and he’s failing nearly all of his classes.”

“Wait- seriously?!”

“And their dad has been gone so long… Zachariah’s concerned Michael isn’t fit to be taking care of… well, anyone. He’s thinking of moving Uriel and Cas out to live with him, just until they graduate. He’s not fond of Gabriel and Anna, so he’s not taking them, but Raphael is going to move out to where Zachariah lives, too. He’s just gotta convince Cas and Uriel that moving is a good idea, and they’ll be gone within a couple weeks. And he lives in New York, Dean.” Jo looked at him with pity in her eyes. “Do you know how much Cas would love to go to a New York art school? Or how much easier it would be for him to start an art career, or whatever the hell he wants to do, in a state like New York, rather than Sioux Falls, South Dakota? Anna… well, she’s pretty certain he’s gonna take the offer.”

She finished and Dean gaped at her, his entire being trying to figure out how he had possibly misheard what she just said, because what he heard couldn’t even be possible. No way. Not… Cas couldn’t be moving. He wasn’t going to leave him, not ever. Right?

…right?

It was official; Dean couldn’t catch a fucking break.

————————

“Hello uncle.”

“Hi uncle Zachariah.”

“Uncle.”

“Hey unkie.”

“Hello uncle Zachariah.”

“Z-swizzle.”

Michael glared at Luc as he carried Zachariah’s luggage in. ( _z-swizzle? really? what, does he not hate us enough for you?_ Michael whispered at his younger brother angrily)

Zachariah was a balding, mildly overweight man, and had been since before even Michael could remember. He had a certain air about him, like a chesire cat, always grinning but never happy, and  _always_  with ulterior motives. For the most part, he just creeped everyone out. Mothers ushered their children to the other side of the street if he was walking towards him, school teachers watched him in a  weary watch-out-gladys-that-might-be-a-pedophile way, and absolutely no one trusted him at first glance.

“Children.” Zachariah nodded, looking them all up and down as they lined up in front of him.

“ _I feel like a fucking Von Trapp_.” Luc whispered out of the corner of his mouth so only Anna could hear, and she smirked.

“Anna, you get more beautiful every day.” Zachariah smiled at the girl and she beamed back at him. “If only you didn’t dress like such a tramp.”

“Hey!” Luc looked at his younger sister, who was blushing and had turned her eyes to the ground, embarrassed  “You can’t talk to her like that, she can dress how she wants.”

Zachariah turned his mean smile to Luc slowly. “And young Lucas.”

“Lucifer, actually, asshat.” Michael gaped at Luc and his insolence, but Zachariah only smiled wider.

“Hmm, no, not according to your birth certificate.” Zachariah said, patting him on the shoulder. “Are you wearing eyeliner?” He glanced down at Luc’s shirt, which had ‘ORGASM DONOR’ in bold black lettering. “I’m sure you’ll do great things.”

Luc rolled his eyes and marched upstairs. No one was brave enough to turn their backs to Zachariah and watch him go.

“Raphael!” Zachariah said with a smile. “My favorite Novak. Shame about the face, though.” He said, barking out a laugh. Raphael barely even moved; nothing about his expression changed but he nodded once.

He stopped in front of Castiel. “And Castiel. The good one.” He lifted an eyebrow. “…what, exactly, is a Skynyrd?” 

Cas looked down at the shirt he was wearing, one Dean had leant him. “All my other shirts are… dirty, sir.” He said, and though no one could see it, a little ways down the line Gabriel smirked in triumph. Zachariah leaned into Cas’ personal space, and he tried not to flinch away from his coffee breath. “You somehow manage to smell like cheap soap, motor oil, and sweat at the same time. Don’t you bathe?”

Cas’ lips twitched with the urge to smile at the thought of smelling like Dean, but he remained stony-faced. Zachariah patted him on the cheek, more like a slap than anything else, and moved past him.

“Uriel.” Zachariah paused. “Stand up straighter, for god’s sake. I know you may well have been born in a barn, or a crack den, but you are no longer in one. Understand?” Uriel nodded once and straightened his spine.

“Gabriel.” Zachariah’s eyes took all of him in at once, starting with his chartreuse lace-up boots, scanning slowly over his bubblegum pink skinny jeans, examining his multi-colored patchwork sweater and the rainbow colored suspenders (one of which wasn’t stretched over his shoulder but hanging limply off to the side) and stopping with the lollipop he was clicking idly against his teeth. “Too easy.”

And he moved to Michael at last, who was standing board-still like the good soldier he was, and who looked the very model of responsibility, in a navy blue polo and tan slacks, hair pushed out of his face and shoes polished. “And Michael. How is it you manage to dress even gayer than the artist-formerly-known-as-princess gumdrop over here?” He jerked a thumb over in Gabriel’s direction and Gabriel jerked an entirely different finger back.

“So, under your influence, we have Jessica Rabbit,  the second coming of Billy Idol, a member of the future mechanics association of America, a potential serial killer, and a boy who makes Liberace look like Mitt Romney.” Zachariah tutted, and moved to pick up his suitcase and take it into the guest room. “Interesting.” He turned on his expensive, pretentious heel and climbed up the stairs.

Anna broke out of their makeshift line and turned to her brothers as death metal started blasting from upstairs, jumbled and barely recognizable, no doubt Luc turning every one of the siblings’ stereo equipment to full volume and putting in his CDs. “Wow, I forgot how much I hated him.”

“He’s not that bad, Anna.” Uriel frowned at her. “You  _could_  do with dressing a little more modestly.” He said, turning to follow his Uncle’s path upstairs, and Raphael followed suit.

“Forgot I hated him, too.” Anna said with a sigh. 

Cas smiled at his big sister. “I’m sure Zachariah just had a bad flight, you know how he is."

“Yeah, a dickface.” Gabriel frowned, pulling at his suspender strap. “I’m putting hair dye in his shampoo just for that tramp remark, An.”

“Wouldn’t expect any less.” Anna smiled at her twin and Michael frowned at all of them.

“Please, could you to just behave yourselves for just this one visit? If you don’t, you know he’ll accuse me of being an unfit guardian.” Michael glared at each of them in turn. “Or would you rather be separated? Or sent to New York to live with him?”

“We’re-“

“Only 17, so he would be your legal guardian. You should think things through before you piss him off.” Michael sighed and flopped over the side of the living room couch, rolling over the back so he could lay down.

“ _Oh god, he’s falling over furniture already_.” Gabriel whispered.

“ _This is not going to end well_.” Cas whispered back, and Anna nodded solemnly.

The three of them turned as they heard tiny footsteps followed by large ones coming down the stairs. 

“Does this belong to one of you?” Zachariah said, frowning, and pushed the girl in front of him forward.

“Meg?” Anna said, looking at the girl who had (thankfully) apparently decided to dress a lot more modestly than she did normally.

“What are you doing here?” Cas asked, reaching out for her hand.

“I’d like my question answered first, please.” Zachariah grunted.

“Oh, sir, this is my girlfriend,” Cas said, ignoring the way Meg’s eyes narrowed at the word. “Meg Masters. Meg, this is my uncle Zachariah, the one I told you about.” And from behind Zachariah she could see Anna and Gabriel making waving gestures that could be loosely interpreted to mean _please dear god Meg make a good impression or he will rip your soul out of your anal cavity._

She got the hint. 

“Pleasure to meet you, sir.” She gave a little curtsy in her dress (which every Novak in the room was extremely thankful to see almost reached her knees and was in a modest dark grey color with a reasonable neckline,  _and_  she was wearing tights) “Castiel has told me what a man of stature you were, but I must say you rather exceed my expectations.”

Anna and Gabriel made gagging motions in the background, but Zachariah grinned, and somehow it was even uglier than his normal scowl.

“Well, our mechanic seems to have some intelligence, after all, to have chosen a decent girl like you to belong to him.”

Meg’s eyes flashed angrily and her eyebrows shot up a fraction of a centimeter, but Anna’s expression behind Zachariah convinced her not to stab him in the trachea with her nail file.

“Thank you, sir.” Cas said, weaving their fingers together.

“And what was this young lady doing in the guest room? You do have a home, don’t you?” He said, eyeing her sceptically for signs of homelessness.

“Oh yes, sir. My parents are lawyers.” She said with a smile. “I just thought I might come over tonight and help Anna prepare dinner; you know how girls are, I just couldn’t resist the urge to cook. Only I was looking for the bathroom and got lost; I have a terrible sense of direction.” She shrugged and smiled. “I think I got it from my mother.”

Behind Zachariah, Gabriel was motioning that Meg was laying it on _really_  thick, and should probably stop, but Zachariah only smiled understandingly.

“Of course. Well, I’ll let Castiel show you the way. Afternoon.”

Cas smiled and nodded, then put a guiding hand on the small of Meg’s back and lead her through the kitchen door. Once inside, her smile shifted into a sly smirk.

“How did I do?”

Cas smiled and lifted her onto the counter. “A little much, but I know he believed it.” he said, kissing her on the cheek. “What  _are_  you doing here?”

“Eh, mom forgot to pay the electricity bill again. And Ruby’s got some weird threesome going on later, I thought I might get out of her way.”

Cas shuddered. “Well, I’m glad you came.” He said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she stroked up and down his arm idly.

“Mm, me too. Though Anna can’t cook for shit, I’ll have to get Michael to help me. God, thought you guys were exaggerating about your uncle, but he really does look like a walrus in people clothes.” Meg smirked. “I’m thinking over dinner I can talk about my work with the church youth group, and then maybe we can discuss how often I go into confession.”

Cas smiled at her. “What could a girl like you possibly have to confess?”

“Hmm.” Meg looked up at him, a wicked glint in her eyes. “I think that’s up to you.”

And Cas barely had time to laugh softly before she pulled him by the collar of his borrowed shirt into a kiss. Cas was coming along nicely as a kisser, and Meg was all too happy to be his test subject. He licked hungrily into her mouth, pushing her back with strong hands. She bit down quickly on his bottom lip, and he groaned a little in response. She pushed him away, and they broke apart slightly, both breathless.

“What are the chances your uncle hears us?” She panted, as he kissed her hungrily down her  neck.

“Um… low? My siblings, however…” He pulled away from her, and she whined a little at the loss of his heat and touch.

“Okay, you are not playing fair at  _all_.” She muttered, pulling her skirt slowly up her thighs for good measure.

“One moment.” He said, then crossed over to the entrance to the kitchen. He shut the door with a click, and the heavy metallic screams of Luc’s music were blocked out instantly. He smiled at her and clicked the lock shut.

“Whoah.” Meg nodded from her spot on the counter of the island in the middle of the now silent kitchen. “That’s some impressive soundproofing.”

“My brother was very thorough in his specifications for any house we would move into. This house is why we chose Sioux Falls; my father found it for us, and every room is essentially soundproof. We’ve lived with Luc for too long for that not to be a prerequisite.” Cas shrugged slightly. “It’s quite nice, actually.”

“Mm. So what you’re saying is… I’m allowed to be a screamer?” She said, winking at him.

“I don’t understand, why would you scream?” He said with a frown as he approached the counter slowly.

Meg rolled her eyes and wrapped her ankles around his thighs, then used them to pull him closer. “God, I still can’t decide if I find your ignorance cute or not” She reached her hands into his shirt and used them to slowly lift it above his hipbones. “But I can say that I find it hot, and you are  _very_  talented with your hands… and you play the piano, right?”

He leaned down and kissed her softly, and she almost growled and pushed deeper into his mouth with her tongue, twisting it around and raking her nails up his back. He pulled away from her slowly, and whispered ‘yes’ into her mouth, before moving to kiss her neck, sucking on the soft flesh.

“Then-” She cut off with a small moan as he bit down on her collarbone. “Oh  _god_ , how are you even legal?” She said, arching up into him.

“Then what?” He smirked, wrapping his arms around her and lifting her slightly so he could lift her dress up over her head. Her eyes were closed softly, and she didn’t respond. He bit down on her shoulder, and her eyes flipped open as she gave him the tiniest of glares. “Then.  _What_?”

“Then play  _me_.” She whispered, smirking at him through lidded eyes.

“All you had to do was ask.” He said, and leaned in for another kiss.

————————

It is a tried and true method that if you ignore something enough, it will eventually go away.

Unless of course you are ignoring the apocalypse, fatal diseases, axe murderers, or your great-aunt with a digital camera.

You could move to Russia and not escape those.

Unfortunately, the fact that your best friend’s uncle was thinking of whisking him off to a more stable and promising life states away counted as one of those unavoidable, follow-you-to-the-soviet-union things, and Dean Winchester was going to have to deal with it sooner or later.

Being a completely rational human being, his solution was to steal beer from Bobby’s fridge and sit on top of a car in the middle of the night and insult people that weren’t there.

“Stupid Meg, trashy ho-face, stupid boy stealing crapcookie.” He slurred, almost falling off the old Ford’s roof. “Gimme back my Cas,  _Megan_  or whatever your actual name. Ha!” He lifted the bottle up. “Should be- should be Lucy, like Lucifer, ‘coz, ‘coz she’s evil.” He hicced and lifted the bottle to his lips, draining it of its contents. “Awww, out of beer. Stupid  _Meg_ , drank it all. Fucyou meg, fucyou zack crya.” He giggled then, giggled drunkenly out into the cool November air. “Sack crya. His sack’s a cryer, hehehe.” It was not his wittiest insult.

“Imma miss you, c-Cas. Best damn frieng I ever had, for sure. Smart and stuff. Most smarts don’ like me, hell, Sammy’s a smart and he dont like me too much.” He sighed, reaching out to the air beside him. “I like you, cas. A lot. A lot a lot a lot.” He sighed, throwing the bottle out into the door and listening as it shattered. “So imma let you go. Wont go by yerself - hic- know you won’t - hic- but i wancha to go - hic- get outta this rathewl - hic- god knows imn’t gonna.”

“Cas, I wanna write poetry about your eyes. And songs ‘bout your nose.” He giggled. “‘m gonna- ‘m gonna write porn boutcha. Porn bout yer hands.” And then he passed out.

————————

“So, you’re moving.”

“You need to learn to start your conversations with a salutation.”

“A what?”

Cas turned away from his locker to look fondly condescending at Dean. “A greeting. Try ‘Hey Cas’ next time.”

“Dude, shut up. Are you moving?” Dean said, following Cas as the younger boy walked outside to sit under their tree. (well, more of a public tree but since the whole thing with Alastair no one was brave enough to take their spot)

“Of course I’m not.” Cas shook his head. “I couldn’t leave you like that.”

“Leave me?” 

Cas blushed, looking down at the grass as he sat down. “Well, I mean, obviously my family as well, and our friends, and Meg, but since I was talking to you I really just mentioned you.”

Dean frowned. Oh. “Well, dude, don’t do me any favors.”

“Excuse me?”

Dean took a deep breath.  _Come on Winchester, man up. You’re doing this for Cas. He needs to stop worrying about other people, so just fucking tell him._  “Cas, living in New York would be a huge thing for you. Think of all the opportunities a guy like you would have out there.”

“But, we’d never see each other. I’d be hours away.” Cas looked at him with a look of complete and utter confusion.

“Well, yeah, whatever.” Dean scoffed, ignoring the hurt in Cas’ eyes. “You have to think about your life outside of your friends, okay? You’re gonna be big one day, but you need to get out of this town to do it.”

“Oh.”

“I mean, we’ve only known each other for a couple months, not like I wouldn’t do the same.” And if it’s possible for a human being to feel more like a dick, it hasn’t been invented yet. Dean sees Cas whole body shrink at Dean’s words and wonders if maybe one day he’ll be able to do the right thing while feeling like it’s the right thing.

“I understand.” Cas stood up, refusing to look at Dean. “I… I should go.”

“Dude.” Dean glanced down at his watch. “I thought you were gonna wait for Sammy to finish debate or whatever with me.”

“Yes, well, I should talk to my uncle.” Cas looked down at him, face completely blank. “Goodbye, Dean.” He nodded and walks away.

Dean loses track of how long he sits there, staring at where Cas was sitting, and trying to convince himself that he’s done what’s best for everyone involved.

————————

“Fuck you, Dean.”

“Fuck you too?” Dean stepped back, away from the door, and closed it behind his furious visitor.

“No, actually. Fuck you. Fuck you three ways up the ass with a wrench, fuck you and everything you are, fuck everything you choose to be! I hope you get herpes from a rhino.” He was being shouted at, and was eternally thankful Bobby was out in the yard, working on some corvette for the lady down the street.

“Hi Meg, how are you?” The girl glared at him. “Would you like to sit down? He says, gesturing to the couch.

“No, asshole, I don’t want to sit down. I want to know  _why_  you did it!” Still shouting. Dean made a confused face at her as Sam came down the stairs.

“Dean, can we keep the screaming down to a- oh hey Meg.” Dean hated how happy Sam was to see her. Damn Cas convincing everyone his girlfriend isn’t a harpie.

“Sammy.” She smiled at him, then whipped her head around to glare at Dean again. “Could you give your big brother and me just like a few minutes? We’ve got some things to discuss. I  _promise_  we’ll be quiet.”

Dean nodded at Sam. “Just go back upstairs.”

Sam eyed them both curiously, but went back upstairs.

“Why’d I do what?” Dean asked as soon as he heard Sam’s door close.

“Why did you convince Cas to move to New York, asshole?”

“CAS IS LEAVING?” Sam’s eerily girly voice cried from upstairs.

“SAM. EAVESDROPPING IS FOR GIRLS. GO STUDY OR SOMETHING.” Dean called up to his brother, who groaned and shouted something like ‘i hate you so much sometimes’ and Dean finally heard Sam’s bedroom door slam shut.

“What the hell are you talking about Meg?”

“He wasn’t going to leave.” Her glare, if possible, becomes more poisonous. “He was going to stay with me, here, and then he calls and tells me he talked to you and figures ‘it’s for the best’ that he move thousands of miles away. And hey, I know you hate me, okay? But I didn’t think you were this much of a  _bitch_.”

“Meg, you sound like- do you care?”

Meg made a face at him. “Shut up.”

“I think you do, oh my god.”

“Okay, I do. Happy? He’s the first guy who has ever actually looked at me like I’m worth more than a quick fuck in the back of his car. I care about him, and I’d like to keep him around for at least a little while.” She was glaring again. “But obviously, you had to fuck that up.”

“Look, I was just trying to think about Cas’ best interests-” Dean began, before Meg cuts him off.

“Oh, don’t give me that crap, okay?” She said, rolling her eyes. “I don’t know whose best interests you were thinking about, but they sure as hell weren’t his. You think he’ll be happy with his asshole, sexist, really religious, most likely Neo-Nazi uncle and his psycho adopted brothers? He belongs here, with the side of his family that actually gives a fuck about him and his  _girlfriend_. But now you’ve got him so butthurt he thinks everyone wants him to leave.”

“Meg, come on-“

“No.” Meg was suddenly very close to him, hand bunched up in him shirt. “You’re gonna fix this, Winchester. You are going to swallow your ego so massive it’s almost bigger than my boyfriend's dick, and make sure he stays, or I will make you deepthroat a cactus. Got it?”

Dean nodded, a little shocked and more than a little terrified she might rip his eyes out of their sockets.

“Good.” She growled, then pushed him violently away so his back collided with the wall. She adjusted the little blue beret on her head, smiled sweetly at him, chirped “See you tomorrow, Dean!” and practically skipped out the door.

Dean leaned back against the wall, and knocked his head against it softly.

“If Cas leaves because of you, I’m on Meg’s team, and I  _will_  help her cut your head off.”

Dean groaned. “Sam, I swear to god, I will  _actually_  kill you.”

————————

Dean opened the gate of the white picket fence confidently, looking to all the world like someone who was absolutely not hiding from his friendship problems. Just because he had blown off hanging out with Cas for the past few days, and okay maybe he’d been ignoring him since he found out Zachariah was thinking of confiscating his nephews and moving them to the edge of the country, virtually ending any chance of Cas staying friends with Dean, and any hope Dean had of possibly being- more than friends, boyfriends, fuckbunnies, whatever, and okay, maybe he really hurt Cas and felt  _really_ bad about it, and maybe Cas’ new girlfriend could put the fear of God into the devil himself, but that didn’t mean he was hiding out from anything, he just had a lot on his plate and a ton of assignments in all his classes and hey, he had to spend time with his girlfriend from time to time, didn’t he?

So yeah.

Dean Winchester was avoiding facing his problems like a real man, and using his girlfriend as an excuse.

He knocked on the door quickly, and Lisa came to the door in seconds. “Hey, Dean.”

“Afternoon, Lis.” He said with a smile, kissing her on the cheek.

“What are you doing here?” She asked, opening the door to let him in.

He sat down on their living room couch lazily, gesturing for her to sit down next to him. “Can’t I visit my girlfriend without having a reason?”

“Mm.” She snuggled into his side. “Yeah, I guess you can. And what timing,” She said with a smile. “Because my parents have a dinner benefit, and won’t be home until well after one or two in the morning.”

Dean let out a fake chuckle. “That’s cool… hey, where’s Ben?” He said, looking for a not-too-obvious topic change.

“Out back, playing.” Lisa said, and Dean got up almost instantly. “Seriously?” Lisa said, after falling backward into the couch cushion.

“Sorry, babe.” He leaned down and kissed her softly. “But you know he’s my favorite.”

She rolled her eyes and followed him out the back door of the house into the yard.

“BENNY!!” He cried, kneeling down and opening his arms as Ben saw him and immediately ran towards him at full speed, and Lisa laughed as Dean was knocked to the ground by his weight.

“You know, most girls don’t have to worry about losing their boyfriends to their dogs.” She said, rolling his eyes as Dean got off the grass and started petting the dog’s stomach happily.

“Who’s a good boy?” Dean said, grinning down at the golden retriever. “Wanna play? You wanna play, huh? Where’s your ball? Where is it?”

“Dean?” Lisa called as Dean tossed the ball to various parts of the yard. He made his way to her, laughing, grabbed the sides of her face, and kissed her tenderly. 

“Yeah babe?” He said with a smile, twirling a piece of her hair around his finger.

“I think we should break up.”

His smile froze on his face, and his hands slowly fell. “What?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say it so abruptly, but-” She stopped, cut off by the giant dog that was nudging at her legs, trying to resume the game. “Ben, stop it.” The dog just became more excited with the attention he was receiving, and jumped around them excitedly. She looked up at Dean, who was staring at her incredulously. “Can we… go back inside?”

He nodded, picking up the tennis ball and throwing it across the yard so Ben could chase it, for what he was sure would be the last time. They walked into the house and stopped in the kitchen, where Lisa turned around and Dean raised an eyebrow at her. “You’re dumping me?”

“Well, you don’t have to say it like that.”

“Why?” She looked down and he stepped a little closer to her. “Come on, Lis. What’s up? I thought- I thought we were good together. The movie dates, the curling up on the couch, the sex? You and I work.”

She blushed. “Dean, I think I’m falling in love with you.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

“Yes. Because it’s been almost a month, Dean. A month of dating and you still haven’t looked at me once.”

“I look at you everyday. Lis, what are you-“

“Not the way you look at him.”

Oh.

Dean froze, staring at Lisa, who smiled back at him. “I could be in love with you, Dean. I know I could. And I know you think you’re in love with me.”

“I am-“

“No, you aren’t. You’re in love with the idea of me. You love that this is a perfect relationship, that we’re comfortable around eachother and you get along great with my parents. You love that we look good together, that people move out of the way when we walk by because we’re that one perfect couple. You love that we have mindblowing sex, and hey, that part  _is_  pretty awesome. But that’s not what love is.” She smiled weakly. “And I think you know that.”

Dean sighed, and ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m not sure what I know anymore.”

“Then let me tell you what I know.” She smiled at him gently and ran her hand up his arm comfortingly. “I know we can work out. I know we could go to the same college, get married, have kids, live the rest of our lives together. We could be good together, stand the test of time or whatever, and we could make it.”

“Then-“

“I also know that we could be together for a hundred years and you’d never feel like you do with Cas. I know the two of us could make it, but the two of you? You’d set the world on fire. And you’d fight, and hey, you might very well break it off someday and end up hating eachother for the rest of your lives.” 

“You’re making a great argument here, Lis.” Dean laughed bitterly. “Stay with a nice girl for the rest of my life, safe and stable, or risk everything on some whirlwind dramatic love bullshit?”

Lisa smiled sadly. “Dean. I know you’re not in love with him, not yet. But you could be. And, just think about it like this: you could either play it safe, but never feel truly passionate, or even really happy, or you could take a chance and find out what it means to be completely in-over-your-head in the best way possible.” She tilted her head a bit, and then laughed. “Wait, what am I saying? You don’t have a choice, because I’m making it for you.” She looked up at him with softness in her eyes, and touched his cheek softly. “I’m trying to tell you that it’s okay, Dean. I’m trying to let you go.”

Dean and kissed her slowly and warmly on the forehead. “I don’t deserve how awesome you are, you know that?”

“Yeah.” She breathed softly, pulling away from him, then laughed breathlessly. “Well I think I just hit my quota of deep, poetic, soul reading. Wanna watch some crappy action movie and eat nachos?”

“God yes.” Dean smirked, then stopped. “Oh, shit.”

“What?” 

“Cas is leaving for New York today. He’s gonna be gone for like, days, more if he decides to move out there. Do you think I might have time to-“

Lisa laughed and kissed Dean, tenderly and soft, pulling him down by his shirt collar and just breathing him in. She pulled away slowly after a second, and looked at his shocked expression.

“What? I’m not allowed to have a little something to remember you by?” She said, laughing, then leaned up to kiss him softly on the cheek, then brought her mouth close to his ear. “Go get ‘im, tiger.”

Dean pulled away from her, beaming, and ran back out the door. Lisa smiled as she watched him open the Impala door and speed off down the street. She shook her head and went back into the kitchen. She didn’t need a man to complete her, and certainly didn’t need one to pig out on nachos with.

————————

Dean broke the speed limit, probably almost killed a small bush, screeched to a halt in the gravel of the Novak’s driveway, ran up the path to the Novak’s house, and banged loudly on their front door. He waited for about half a second before testing the knob, finding that the door was unlocked, and racing into the house.

“Cas!” He shouted, running through the living room and opening the door to the kitchen, where he found Gabriel putting the finishing touches on a giant, frosting covered gingerbread house that was literally dripping with chocolate and strawberry syrup. “Seriously dude? It’s November.” Gabriel stared at him, and Dean figured he did look a bit strange, out of breath and smiling like an idiot, racing through their house when no one had let him in. “Cas in here?”

“No, Dean, what the hell-“

But Dean was already running up the stairs, taking them two at a time. He reached Cas’ floor, ran a had through his hair, and pushed the door open, grinning, and stepped into Cas’ bedroom.

Which was empty.

He backed up, slowly, adding things up in his head.  _Break up with girlfriend, receive epiphany, race through town, almost kill self, eleventh hour, terrify and confuse brother, dramatic entrance…. now comes the epic kiss._

_Now comes the epic kiss._

He surveyed the room, as if maybe Cas was standing somewhere he hadn’t looked yet, or hiding. He opened Cas’ closet, which only held Cas’ weird hipster clothing.

_NOW COMES THE EPIC KISS._

_HELLO??_

_Fucking Hollywood, raising my damn expectations._

He heard a little knock on the doorframe and spun around, grinning like an idiot.

“Hello, Dean.”

“Hey… Anna.” His grin was still plastered on his face, but it was becoming more forced by the second. “Hey, um, where’s Cas? There’s a… marathon. On T.V.. Firefly, you know, and I thought I’d, hrm. I’d come over and let him know.”

Anna nodded, though her eyes looked at Dean like he was talking about adopting a pink poodle named Zizi. “Um, Dean. Did Cas not tell you? He went to New York.”

Dean’s heart threw itself off the Empire State Building and landed in a pitiful heap somewhere around his ankle. “He left already?”

“Yep.” She looked at Cas’ wall clock. “About an hour ago, actually. Sorry. Guess you’ll just have to watch it with Sam.” She shrugged.

“Um. Is he, is he coming back?” Dean said, as nonchalantly as possible.

“Oh yeah, on Thursday if he’s staying here, next Tuesday if he decides to live with asshat, ratweasel, and kill-you-in-your-sleep.” Dean raised an eyebrow and she shrugged. “Look, I was never on board with the whole adopted-brothers thing, okay?”

“Yeah, cool. I’ll, um, see you on Monday, An.” He moved to leave the room, and she stopped him with a hand on his chest.

“Dean.” Her eyes were full of concern. “What’s up?”

“Nothing.” He smiled at her. “Why, you ok?”

“Fine.” She said slowly, moving her hand away. 

“Awesome. See you, An. And… watch out. Gabriel’s making a gingerbread house.”

“Oh god.” Anna shook her haid and her eyes followed Dean as he started down the stairs. “Hey Dean!” She called, leaning over the banister.

He looked up at her. “Yeah?”

“You told him to go, right?” Anna said, looking at him with sad eyes. “You told Cas he should move to New York.”

Dean looked down at the wooden stair below his feet, and shut his eyes tight, sighing deeply before looking back at her, eyes questioning but not accusing, red hair tumbling forward in front of her face. “I’m sorry, Anna.” He said, before continuing down the stairs.

————————

On Monday, the entire lunch table was quiet. Ash and Chuck were studying, or playing some video game on their laptops, and Kali and Gabriel were ignoring each other (it had something to do with melted chocolate, pixie sticks, and seven throw pillows, and that was all Dean ever wanted to know about it, thanks). That left Jo, who was looking at Meg like the girl would burst into tears at any second, Anna, who was picking at her fries like if she let her sadness seep into their potato grease, things might get better, Dean, who was avoiding looking at  _anyone_  but failing miserably as he tried to figure out how many of them new he was gay for Cas; Lisa, who was watching Dean with more pity than he thought possible to look at someone with, and Meg.

Who was looking at Dean like he was personally responsible for global warming, all the endangered cute animals in the world, the fact that Santa didn’t exist, and every single Madagascar movie.

He kept checking his sleeves to make sure they weren’t bursting into flames, the hatred was so intense.

It was awkward.

Every so often Meg would look at the empty space next to her and sigh slowly, and every girl at the table would turn their faces to her, each wearing expressions of varying shades of  _MUST. COMFORT. FELLOW. WOMAN._  Dean almost groaned out loud, but he was afraid the combined power of all their glares might rip a second hole in the ozone, and then he’d probably be blamed for that too.

Meg just sat across from him, glaring and occasionally impaling bits of food on her (pitch)fork and moving them into her mouth, eyes never leaving Dean, and if he had to make an educated guess he’d say she was imagining the poor innocent carrots as his spinal chord, which was only the tiniest bit  _fucking TERRIFYING._

But it wasn’t until school got out that she actually talked to him.

Well, at him.

And not so much talked as barked.

In a completely feminine, non-satanic-hellhound way.

“You’re driving me home.” Dean turned as the short brunette brushed past him, not entirely sure she was talking to him until she stopped and spun around, one eyebrow raised. “Well, come on.”

“Um..” Dean glanced around as crowds of students left their highschool. “Are you talking to me?”

“No, pixie stick dick, I’m talking to Edgar Allen Poe behind you. Of course I’m talking to you.” She gestured towards the parking lot.

“Um, I’m not driving you home.”

“Uh, yeah, you are. Because Cas is my ride. And he’s in New York. Because of you. So fuck if I’m walking all the way home when I can drive in your overcompensation vehicle.” She smiled at him, bright and sweet. “Let’s go!”

Dean swore under his breath and followed her, thinking how fucking terrifying her attitude changes were. “I really don’t want you on the upholstery.” He grumbled, kicking at the rocks as they walked.

“Mmm.” She sighed, looking back at him. “That’s not how I remember it.”

“Oh, fuck you.” He said, speeding up to walk ahead of her. He was tired of this following shit.

“Been there, done that.” She laughed, and they reached the edge of the buildings, around the corner of which everyone in the entire school knew the Impala was parked in the shade, just a few steps away from Dean’s first class. No one had dared park there since freshman year, when he had started (semi-illegally) driving it to school. Not even the occasional days when everyone knew he’d be out of school (suspension, naturally). Dean rounded the corner first, and froze in his tracks. “Oh god, did some bird sh-” Meg started, but froze as well.

Castiel Novak was leaning against the side of the car, a tiny smirk on his face.

“Cas?” Meg said, inching closer.

“Meg.” He said, pushing himself off the car and moving slowly to her, a smile on his face. “I knew you’d force Dean to drive you home.”

Meg blushed, but continued her slow, shocked walk to where he stood. “You should be in New York.”

“No, I shouldn’t.” He said, moving closer to her so they were separated by mere inches of air. “I realized how much I wanted to stay here, and the people I wanted to stay for, so I bought tickets for an earlier flight home.” He smiled down at her, and she smiled back.

And then slapped him.

“That’s for leaving me.” She said as he turned back to her, then slapped him again. “And  _that_  is for making me feel emotions, asshole.” He smiled at her and she kissed the cheek she had hit. “That’s for coming to your senses.”

Cas was looking at her so fondly that Dean felt himself (mostly) involuntarily clear his throat. Cas looked up at him, and gave him one of his almost-smiles. “I know what you were trying to do, Dean. You’re forgiven.”

Dean almost smiled at that, but then it was immediately followed by Cas looking at Meg and saying, ‘would you like dinner?’ and Meg yanking him forward and practically sucking his face off, and Dean lost both his ability to smile and any chance of ever having an appetite again.

So Dean just stomped around the couple, got in the Impala, and drove home by himself.

Well, at least Cas was back to stay.

————————

Cas sat in his room, wishing he hadn’t chosen today of all days to rearrange his furniture, which had effectively made closing his bedroom door impossible, which, in turn, meant he could hear every sound made by his four fighting siblings. Michael and Luc were screaming at each other about Luc’s lack of job or motivation and Michael’s ‘stick up your ass the size of Kentucky’; and Gabriel had apparently accidentally set some of Anna’s clothing on fire (better not to ask about that one, actually) so there were two conflicting shouting matches occurring at the same time as Cas was just trying to read.

And, if he were to try and leave his room, even to get a snack, he’d be instantly ambushed and forced to side with one of his siblings. Which was not exactly how he wanted to spend a Friday evening.

And speaking of horrible ways to spend an evening, it seemed hunting down a mouse in his room would be next as he heard little tiny almost-scratching thumps. Cas groaned and sat up on his bed, then checked under his bed for the source of the sound.

Which was slowly transitioning into louder and louder thumping.

Cas was only slightly terrified, but then he realized the thumping was coming from his window. He pulled back the curtains and saw Dean sitting on the tree branch outside, a small smile on his face. He pushed the glass open.

“Dean.” He said, smiling at the other boy.

“Hey man.” Dean said, smile widening when he saw that Cas was actually happy to see him. 

“Why are you in a tree outside my window?” He asked, tilting his head in confusion, and he noticed that Dean’s eyes seemed warmer when he did.

“Didn’t think I’d remember the tree I climbed down just a couple weeks ago? C’mon Cas.” Dean said with a smirk. “I was walking home from Ellen’s, and I, erm, heard the shouting.” He peered into the house, inside which the screaming was all-too audible.

“Ahh, yes. My siblings are feeling…. spirited tonight.” Cas shook his head.

Dean smirked at him and jerked his head. “Well, come on then.”

“Sorry?”

“Let’s go. I’m breaking you out.”

“Dean.” Cas shook his head. “You said you walked here. My car is in the garage, and I need the key to unlock it, and the key is currently-“

“Oh, shut up, will you?” Cas tried to be offended, but Dean was still smirking, so it was very hard. “We don’t have to drive anywhere. We’ll just go explore the woods, because I know for a fact you have never tried it.”

“Dean, it’s almost dark out.”

“And?” He smiled then, bright and beautiful and Cas always did have trouble saying no to that smile. “Come on, man, live a little.”

And soon Castiel Novak had retrieved his overcoat from the bed, left a note to his sister to reassure her he hadn’t been kidnapped or killed or anything like that, and was following Dean Winchester down a tree and into the cool evening air.

————————

Dean Winchester was lost.

Well, okay, technically, so was Castiel Novak, but it was Dean who had gotten them into this whole wandering-in-an-eery-forest-in-the-dark thing, so he was trying to take some responsibility.

And apparently the Winchester way of taking responsibility was to insist to Cas that he knew exactly where they were going, but hey, this seemed like a good spot to stop and chill for a sec, how ‘bout it?

So there they sat, almost invisible in the darkness around them, silent and still.

“Lisa broke up with me.” Dean said, barely whispering, and he saw Cas’ outline turn towards him.

“I’m sorry. I know you felt strongly about her.”

“Eh, whatever, right? There’ll be another one soon enough.”

“I suppose.”

“….Cas?”

“Yes?”

“Um, nothing. Not important.” 

Dean heard shuffling in front of him, and before he had time to properly freak out about the possibility of being killed by a creepy thing in a dark forest with the guy he didn’t have the balls to ask out, Cas was leaning his body against Dean’s.

“Dude, I thought you were like a wolf or something.”

“There aren’t any wolves here.” Cas sighed into him.

“Yeah well, you never know.” Dean said, almost laughing. “Hate for one of those fuckers to catch me off guard.”

Cas chuckled softly, and Dean felt it vibrate against his side. They sat for a few minites in silence before Cas spoke again.

“You have no idea where we are, do you?”

Dean laughed, breathy and barely louder than a whisper. “Not a clue. Sorry, man, shoulda thought this one through.”

“Don’t be.” Cas sighed against Dean. “It’s nice. The world seems quiet now, like everything is finally calm and at peace. It’s a nice feeling, not knowing where you are or how you got there, or even how to move on. Throwing caution to the wind. I think I could get used to it, on occasion.”

Dean’s mind flashed back to what Lisa had said about taking a risk and letting himself fall for Cas, but he quickly pushed the thought out of his mind. This wasn’t about falling for Cas, this was just two friends sharing… an incredibly homoerotic moment under a romantic starlit sky.

Okay, maybe it was a little bit about falling for Cas.

“Let’s lay down.” Dean said without thinking, and Cas complied; both of them laying out their jackets on the uneven dirt and lying on their backs, staring up at an endless sky and listening to the near silence surrounding them.

“It’s beautiful.” Cas sighed, blue eyes reflecting the stars. Not that Dean was staring at them or anything. But he couldn’t help but agree.

“Cas?”

“Yes Dean?”

“Promise to let me know if a wolf comes to devour our spleens?”

Cas laughed, soft and low. “I promise, Dean.”

“Thanks, man.”

The silence stretched on, so long and unchanging that Dean could not have possibly guessed how much time had passed. But it did look like neither of them would be going home that night. Somehow, that didn’t bother him in the slightest.

“Cas?”

“Yes, Dean.” Cas said, a hint of irritation in his voice, but it was covered in a gentle fondness.

“I’m really glad you didn’t move to New York.”

And Dean couldn’t see it, but he somehow knew that next to him, Cas was beaming up at the stars, his smile reflected in the endless, beautiful sky.

“I know. So am I.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.... whoops I megstieled. I'm just trying to think like a teenage boy who didn't know what his sexuality was or what to do about his incredibly homoerotic friendship, please let me know if you like or hate it. And thanks so much for all your comments, you guys are awesome.


	8. In Which There is Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! Finally have the next chapter up! Aaand it's a Christmas chapter! Anyway, thanks to the anon on my tumblr who reminded me to get this all typed up. I hope you guys like the chapter, and thanks so much for all your amazing support and feedback! Popular opinion is that Megstiel is cute but Destiel is necessary. Maybe we'll get some Dean/Cas action sometime soon.....

Dean Winchester was absolutely not pouting.

Absolutely not.

Dean Winchester was a strong, emotionless, punch-away-your-feelings all-American teenage boy. He did not pout.

No matter what Sammy the bitch said.

So maybe he had refused to move from his spot on the couch except to pour himself more eggnog for almost the entire day. There was a Harry Potter special on t.v. that he really wanted to watch, okay? And yeah, okay, he denied the invitation to his friends’ annual Christmas movie-marathon, which might have been a tradition since freshman year. So what? He was sick. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that it fell on Cas and Meg’s one month anniversary. _One month. How the hell could anyone like Cas put up with Meg for an entire month? How had their relationship not gone down like the fucking Hindenburg? What kind of fucked up world were they living in where Meg had gone and stolen Cas (the hag) when obviously she didn’t know how to really appreciate him, or get his non-jokes, or listen to his rants about public library policies and his older brothers? She wouldn’t get all of his nerdy references or tell him when he was staring to much or appreciate the emotions he showed with only his eyes or the adorable way the corners of his mouth twitched when he was trying not to smile._

Not that those things mattered to him.

Not at all.

So, on Christmas Day, when he showered and combed his hair for the first time in a week, it definitely wasn’t because Cas was coming over later. Honest, it wasn’t.

————————

Twas a couple days before Christmas,

And all through the house,

Everyone could hear Gabriel belting Christmas carols at the top of his lungs, and Anna shouting down the stairs “JESUS FUCKING CHRIST GABRIEL IT IS ELEVEN-THIRTY SEVEN AT NIGHT GO THE FUCK TO SLEEP!”

Cas sat on his bed in an old, chunky sweater with bold colors and a strange pattern, waiting for Meg. She was down the hall in the bathroom, preparing what she had referred to as his ‘Christmas surprise’. She was a very thoughtful girlfriend, getting him surprises like that, even before Christmas. The door swung open and his lips parted a bit in shock.

“You like?” Meg stood in the doorway, dressed in a very, very revealing white and red piece of lingerie, sheer fabric revealing her midsection and barely covering her underwear, and top pushing her breasts up. 

“I seem to, yes.” Cas was finding it a bit difficult to swallow for some odd reason.

“Good.” She pushed the door closed and locked it, then moved across the room to straddle his two legs, then ran her hand through her hair as he held onto her waist. “So, why don’t you tell me what you want for Christmas?” She purred, stroking his bicep idly.

“I thought that would be obvious.” Cas said with a warm smile. “All I’ll ever want or need… is you.” He gave her a light kiss, then smiled up at her.

She rolled her eyes,”You are such a sap.” Then gave his chest a soft push.

He held her hand to his chest, so she could feel his heartbeat. “I think you like it.”

“Maybe,” She covered his triumphant smirk with a kiss. “But I  _love_  this sweater.” She said, thumbing the material and, as usual, Cas didn’t pick up on the sarcasm. 

“Dean found it when we went Christmas shopping. Said it suited me.” Cas smiled.

“Hmm. Well,” She placed a kiss on his neck, right under his jaw. “I think,” Another kiss, this one beneath his ear. “It would look much better,” A tiny bite on his collarbone. “On the floor.”

He smiled at her, then placed a gentle hand on her cheek and pulled her in for a soft, chaste kiss.

But she was Meg, so it naturally turned into more.

————————

Christmas Day was just as hectic as it always was. Apparently, although it made you too mature to toss a baseball around with your older brother or play with the legos you used to love, being thirteen didn’t prohibit you from waking up at the ass-crack of dawn and being a little annoying bitch about opening presents until your love-sick (ahem,  _tired_ ) older brother told you to go the fuck back to sleep or he’d shank you with an elephant tusk. The indignant little noises Sam made at the mistreatment of animals were  _so_  worth the wake-up call. But seriously, the presents would still be there after 5 o’clock in the goddamn morning.

Dean called it a huge freaking win that Sam went back to sleep until nine, then dragged Dean’s tired ass out of bed to open the presents. The tiny boy bounced on his heels until Bobby came grumbling out of his room before crashing onto the couch. Sam passed out all the presents and they took turns opening them, as per usual. Dean was particularly proud of his presents to his little brother this year; Cas had helped him pick out some poetry books for the inner menopausal woman living inside Sam, as well as a huge-ass book about unsolved crimes and mysteries of the world, which he absolutely flipped about.

Dean made out nicely as well. Bobby gave him a fifty and said  _You get two cars from the yard. You fix ‘em up, you sell ‘em, you keep all the money._  Which was just about the coolest present ever. Sam, beaming, had handed him three presents carefully wrapped in this weird-ass walrus wrapping paper that he though it best not to comment on. The first contained six blank cassette tapes, ready to hold all his best music, and two of his very favorite action movies on DVD. The second, a shiny new copy of Twilight, which Dean promptly threw at his little brother’s laughing face. He opened the third to find something soft and squishy. He picked it up and examined it; it was a hat. A knitted hat in two different shades of dark green with tiny holes of misplaced stitches and a slightly lopsided edge. He looked up at Sam, who was smiling so big his lips were practically touching his forehead.

“I made it for you!” Sam said with a proud look on his face. “Well, Cas helped me pick out the colors, and lent me his mom’s old knitting needles, and then taught me how to knit ….and then got it started for me, but the rest was all me.”

Dean swallowed roughly, feeling very warm and fuzzy, like the feeling you get curled up in your blankets on a cold winter night: warm, safe, and happy. He pulled his little brother into a huge hug. “I love it.”

Jo and Ellen were the first to arrive that afternoon. They all exchanged greetings and hugs, then the two of them placed their presents for the boys and Bobby underneath the tree. Jo situated herself next to Dean on the couch as the boys watched some strange Christmas movie Sam had shoved into the VCR. Dean wasn’t really paying attention, his eyes kept flitting to the door at every noise, waiting for Cas to show. 

Dean had found the perfect present for his nerdy best friend, along with one Sam had helped him pick out, and he was really excited to give them to him. So when he heard a knock at Bobby’s door, he practically sprinted over to open it, a huge smile on his face, which immediately shrunk a little.

“Hey, Gabriel.” He nodded to the redhead behind him. “Anna, how’s it going?”

“Afternoon Dean-o!” Gabriel said, shaking the snow off of his jacket. “ _Please_  tell me you guys have candy canes and hot chocolate.” He brushed right past Dean into the house, shouting “SAMMY BOY!!” as he entered the living room. Dean rolled his eyes.

Anna smiled at him as she entered the house. “Merry Christmas, Dean.”

“Merry Christmas, Anna. Where’s Cas?” He hoped he sounded casual.

“My baby brother is currently getting the last of the presents out of the car.” She said, before greeting Jo with a smile and sitting on the couch next to her, ready to hear all the latest gossip.

Dean went back to the now closed door when he heard a knock. He ran a hand through his hair and straightened up, checking his shirt for any stains, then opened the door with a smile.

Cas stood smiling on the porch, wearing an adorably ugly sweater and a chunky blue scarf. His cheeks and nose were red from the cold, and his unruly hair was rebelling against the confines of his knitted hat and sticking up into the cold air, freckled with snowflakes. It was one of the cutest things he’d ever seen, and he knew he was becoming even more like a 13 year old girl by the second, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. “Hello, Dean.”

“Hey Cas.” Dean said, with what was most certainly the stupidest grin that had ever appeared on his face in his entire existence. It took all of his willpower not to rush out onto the porch and kiss that little smile of Cas’ off his face. “You comin’ in?” He said, stepping back from the door.

“Of course.” Cas turned. “I’m just waiting for- ah, here she is.” And there was a slam of a car door and Meg came scurrying around the corner. Dean’s heart sunk. He hadn’t thought about the fact that Cas might want to bring his girlfriend over for Christmas, and was suddenly struck with the urge to thump his head against the door-frame until he got brain damage.

“Sorry, boys, had to run back for Sammy’s present.” She smiled up at the two of them.

Dean’s smile disappeared. No one was allowed to call him Sammy but him. Especially not some friend-stealing slutface. “You… brought Meg.”

Cas’ grin faltered. “Is that okay? Sorry, I didn’t think to ask you first, but we wanted to spend our first Christmas together, and…” His eyes showed the panic he was feeling, but his voice remained calm. “We could go somewhere else, if you like.” 

Dean felt a sudden rush of shame at being the one to put such a worried expression on Cas’ face. Not to mention the additional groin kick of guilt he felt when he realized Cas had thought that of course his best friend would welcome him into his house at Christmas no matter what, regardless of who he brought with him, and when he arrived Dean was being a douchecake.  _For fuck’s sake-_   ”Nah, the more the merrier, right? Come on in, you two.” He deserved a fucking Oscar for the fake smile he plastered on his face.

But it was replaced by a genuine one when Cas beamed at him, so maybe it was a teensy bit worth it. The couple entered the room, with Meg looking stupidly pretty shaking little snowflakes out of her hair, a bright red knitted hat sitting on top of her black curls. She greeted everyone in the room, and then went into the kitchen to see if Ellen needed any help. Dean gave her a skeptical eye. She was being way too…normal. Nice. He didn’t trust it. Not one bit.

While she was in the kitchen, Dean very innocently plopped himself in the only space left next to Cas on the couch.

Which meant when Meg came out of the kitchen, she had to sit on Cas’ lap. He smiled and wrapped two sweatered arms around her waist and she leaned against him, glaring at the Novaks and Winchesters (and Harvelle and Singer, of course) and daring them to think she was enjoying herself.

Dean really was pretty terrible at that whole common sense thing. He grumbled to himself about propriety like the hypocrite he was, and got ready for an entire movie’s worth of their gross sloth snuggling.

————————

After the movie it was time for their present exchange. Sam placed the Santa hat on his head and cheerfully began distributing the presents. Bobby and Ellen exchanged friendly presents and more-than-friendly glances, to which Dean rolled his eyes and Jo made little gagging noises, and people seemed to have taken Dean’s advice, because Sam received books from pretty much everyone. The twin Novaks were easy, Cas had done some research and everyone chipped in to get Gabriel a hanging lamp made of strings of gummy bears for his room, and Anna was showered in art supplies and feminist stickers. Then it came time for Cas’ present pile, which was decidedly smaller.

“I don’t see one from you, Meg.” Sam said, glancing under the tree again as Dean rolled his eyes.  _Of course she didn’t get him a present, Sammy. Satan doesn’t celebrate Christmas._

“Oh.” Meg said nonchalantly, taking a sip of some hot cocoa. “Yeah, I already gave him his present. I didn’t realize we’d be gathering by the hearth for this charming little exchange, sorry.” 

Her tone was casual, but Dean could tell by the way Cas’ eyes flickered downwards and his expression shifted to bashful-neutral exactly what kind of present it was. And yeah, he kinda wanted to puke in his mouth a little. 

“This is wonderful, thank you Jo, Ellen.” Cas smiled, and Dean realized that he’d been so grossed-out by the thought of Cas unwrapping Meg that he’d missed Cas opening his first present, a box of colorful, patterned bowties. He held up the one with the map of Vatican City and the one Dean had picked out, which was blue (a less perfect version of the color of Cas’ eyes) with grey spirals weaving subtley through the color. “If you could, Gabriel, maybe wait until I’ve worn these at least once to hide them under the floorboards?” He said, glancing at his older brother.

“Eh.” Gabriel shrugged. “Maybe, if you’re lucky.”

“Shush, Gabriel. No being a jerk on Christmas.” Sam tutted, and handed Cas his next two presents from his brother and sister, a few books of sheet music, a book on symbology throughout history signed by the author, new classy paintbrushes and sketching pencils, and lots different ingredients for tea (“so you can make your own and stop bitching about the improper proportions of different blends or whatever it is you go on about”).

Finally Sam handed him Dean’s present, all wrapped in dark blue paper. Cas unwrapped it slowly, like he did all of the presents, taking time and care so as not to damage the paper, because Cas actually cared about shit like pretty wrapping paper not being destroyed.

How could you  _not_  be a little in love with him?

He lifted the thick book into the air and a small smile appeared on his face as he read out the title, “Language and Writing In Popular Culture VII - Television and the Movies.”

“It’s a guide and analysis of all the different languages authors and directors have made up and adapted in their stuff. It’s got a guide to Firefly curses, all the Lord of the Rings languages, all that shit. I thought it was very you.” Dean said, suddenly feeling himself blush. It was a bit of a weird gift, what if he didn’t like it?

“Wow.” Cas said slowly, and Dean panicked.

“Um, I mean, if you don’t like it I can give it to Sam, no big deal, he likes this stuff anywa-“

“I love it. Thank you, I’ve always been so interested in different languages.” Cas beamed at him and immediately started flipping through the book. “And I’ve been told, from a very reliable source, that pop culture references are absolutely crucial if you want to survive in the world today.” He said with a smirk, and Dean and Sam laughed.

Meg frowned next to him. “Cas, you can go through your nerd tome later. More presents to open, ‘member?”

“Yes, sorry.” Cas said, embarrassed, and placed the book on the floor, turning to Dean and mouthing ‘thank you’ with a smile, which warmed Dean up more than the fire he was sitting in front of ever could. “Would you like to open your present, Meg?”

Meg rolled her eyes. “I don’t have any presents here.”

“I think you’ll find you do.” He said with a smile, pulling a little black box out of his pocket.

It probably would be helpful to add that as he did so, Dean Winchester was fighting the urge to project himself out of Bobby’s window and hope to hell the world would be better on the other side, because  _ABORT. ABORT. WHAT THE EVERLIVING FUCK IS CAS DOING WITH AN ENGAGEMENT RING THAT RING DOES NOT BELONG ON MEG’S SKANKY FINGER, CAS, DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY DICKS THAT FINGER HAS TOUCHED IN ITS SLUTTY EXISTENCE BECAUSE THE ANSWER IS A FUCK OF A LOT._

His eyes were frozen on the box, his jaw slack and his entire brain a flashing screen of  _DOES NOT COMPUTE_   as he tried to come to terms that Cas was proposing.  _Cas_  was  _proposing_. To  _Meg_. His eyes moved quickly to the window to check for any other impossible things; pigs flying, rain of fire and brimstone, Jesus strolling by with Nefertiti on one arm and Sherlock Holmes on the other, because apparently the universe and reality were collapsing, and he didn’t want to miss something truly awesome. His eyes moved back to the couple on the couch next to him.

As Dean contemplated tackling Cas to the ground, snatching the box out of his hands, and calmly running out into the street so he could run it over in his car, he failed to notice two things.

One being the look of exceptional unhappiness on Meg’s face.

The other that the box in Cas’ hands was far too large to hold an engagement ring.

Which was, of course, because it contained a necklace.

“Cas, you already gave me my present. The chocolates.” Meg said, eyes locked on his. “Remember, I picked them out and made you buy them as my Christmas present. It was only like, a week ago.”

“I remember. But I wanted to get you something else.” Cas said, and Dean chose to ignore Jo and Anna’s happy little sighs in the background, because this was still Cas proposing to Satan.

Meg made a little unhappy noise and Cas, naive little thing that he was, took it as a sign of affection, opening the box to reveal a ( _okay, really fucking awesome_ ) necklace on a gold chain, with little red stones that shone in the light and had little gold flecks inside them that made it look like someone had trapped fire in glass.

Dean’s entire being and seven of his ancestors sighed in relief. _Not an engagement ring then._   _Still too lovey-dovey to be okay, though._

“Merry Christmas, Meg.” Cas said with a smile, reaching his arms around her neck to fasten the necklace.

Anna and Jo  _awwed_  and Ellen made a little sniffling noise that sounded suspiciously like she was on the verge of tears. Bobby was looking at Cas with eyes practically brimming with fatherly pride, Gabriel rolled his eyes but his eyes were all stupidly pridey as well. Sam’s little thirteen-year-old eyes flicked from Cas to Meg eagerly, and you might have just told him there were going to be seven Christmases this year, the smile on his face was so big.

If someone didn’t say something soon, Dean would actually projectile vomit.

Luckily, Meg was just as uncomfortable as he was. “Uh.” She looked around at the various people who were watching her, eyes filled with happiness and pride. “Cool beans. Thanks.” She cleared her throat and got off of Cas’ lap. “Um, you guys go on with the present opening and all that, I’m gonna go to the bathroom.”

Jo moved to stand up. “Meg, you get lost every time you come here, you want someone to go with-“

“I’m fine!” She said, laughing nervously. “I’ll find it eventually.”

Everyone turned to watch her go.

“Somethin’ we said?” Bobby grunted, and Ellen shrugged at him.

“Nah, Meg is just uncomfortable with displays of affection.” Jo said, still smirking at Cas.

“Meg is just generally uncomfortable with people being nice to her.” Anna shook her head. “Even if it’s my adorable little brother.”

There was a collective group sigh as they all decided to continue with the present distribution. Dean moved the slightest bit closer to Cas but was growing more and more frustrated as the younger boy’s eyes kept flicking to the stairs up which Meg had disappeared. Jo, Ellen, and Bobby had opened their presents and Dean was starting in on his first one when Meg finally came back downstairs. Everyone turned to look at her again, but at least Bobby and Ellen tried to be subtle about it.

“Hey.” She said sheepishly, only looking at Cas. “I… hrm. I gotta go.”

“What?”

Dean’s inner self was doing the macarena of happiness.

“Yeah, uh. Ruby managed to wake Mom up, and I think Dad left us a happy holidays message, so I gotta get back to listen to that while my Mom’s sober, and…” She smiled softly at them, clearly uncomfortable. “Thanks for having me, Singer, Harvelles and Winchesters, sorry I can’t stay.” She waved a little at them, then walked over to the doorway and started putting on her coat.

Cas got up off the couch and moved quickly over to the doorway. “Meg, if I did something…”

“You didn’t do anything, I just gotta go, okay?” She refused to meet his eyes as she put her hat on her head and kissed him on the cheek.

“Well, let me drive you home, at least.” He said, reaching for his coat.

She shook her head and smiled weakly. “Don’t want you to miss out on all the fun because of me. Don’t worry, it’s like, around the corner. I’ll call you, kay?” She turned away from him, unlocked the door, then stepped through and shut it in his face.

Cas stared at the door in disbelief as Bobby and Ellen decided this was too teenage-drama for them and both moved into the kitchen to talk, and probably drink even more spiked eggnog.

“Cas, dude, I’m sure she’s-” Dean got up and started to say ‘fine’, but before he could even start with the f, Cas yanked the door open and was running out into the freezing December snow, only wearing his adorably ugly sweater.

As the door slammed closed behind him, Dean saw Anna, Jo, Gabe and Sam exchange little significant looks before racing, as a group, to the window to watch. Oh, what the hell. Dean pressed his nose to the glass right above Sam’s little head and watched Cas run towards Meg, who was almost out of the yard. 

In the falling snow, they saw her turn and roll her eyes, saying something and gesturing with mitten protected hands, something that looked like  _go back inside you idiot, you’re gonna catch pneumonia and die._  Cas slowed, but kept walking towards her, and his back was towards them so they couldn’t tell if he was speaking, but her mouth kept moving.

“Please tell me one of you chuckleheads can read lips or has supersonic hearing.” Gabe muttered, face pressed up against the window.

“Shh!” Anna and Jo hissed.

Meg was looking at Cas with uncertain eyes, looking cold and uncomfortable as he walked slowly towards her, less than fifteen feet away. She said something else, gestured towards the house, but her eyes never left him. He walked deliberately up to her until he was practically towering over her tiny(ish) body, and her eyes followed him upwards. Her mouth moved again, and her eyes shifted gradually; they began wide and full of fear, they softened and she began to smile, softly, so small it was barely even there. But it was there, and growing, until she was almost smirking, which was the equivalent of a normal human being beaming and frolicking around, showering the air with heart shaped confetti and singing Celine Dion.

And just when Dean thought the moment couldn’t get any more disgusting (though some might call it ‘cute’) Cas put two hands on the sides of her face and leaned down to kiss her. Her arms wrapped around him slowly, and they stayed like that for a minute while Anna did a sort of squealing happy dance and Jo sighed wistfully. Dean would forever pretend he didn’t hear Sam sigh the exact same way, or see Gabe punch his fist into the air triumphantly. The couple continued kissing, and everything was too Hallmarky and gross, and Dean just knew that at any minute some anthropomorphized Disney animals were going to emerge from the car carcasses in the yard and start signing Elton John.

Barf.

But then they finally pulled apart and they watched as Cas stroked Meg’s cheek softly in the falling snow and her eyes remained peacefully closed, then flicked open to mouth something like goodbye. She waved a little mittened hand and Cas turned to walk away, a smile plastered on his face as he moved into the little house. 

Meg watched him as he did, cheeks blushing pink and a stunned smile on her face. Then her eyes flicked to the window where the four of them were watching the scene eagerly. They all froze, and Gabe’s fist punch turned into an embarrased wave. The smile vanished from her face as she rolled her eyes and flipped them all off, and Jo laughed, muttering “Jeez, she really doesn’t like showing that she likes him. I think we can classify it as a disorder at this point.”

Meg’s eyes flicked back to Cas one last time and then she walked away, out the driveway and heading home.

The door squeaked open and Cas walked into the living room, hair covered in snow and a bright smile across his face. 

Gabe was the first to say anything. “That was cuuu-uuute.” He cooed, going up to his taller-than-him little brother and ruffling his hair.

Cas blushed. “I take it you were watching?”

“Naturally.” Anna smiled, flopping onto the couch. “And I agree with Gabe, Cas. So adorbs. However, if the two of you insist on constantly re-enacting Hallmark cards, I will disown you for making me feel crappy about my love life.”

“Seconded.” Jo said, flopping down in front of the t.v. and reaching for the bowl of candy on the coffee table. “Though I agree, you guys are pretty much the cutest thing ever.”

“At the risk of making my brother punch me, I third that.” Sam grinned, laying down and placing his head on Jo’s stomach.

Dean rolled his eyes, grabbing a couple of cookies off the table and stuffing them in his mouth, then gave Cas a little thumbs-up. Cas smiled back at him, happy for the approval.

“And here all of us were,” Gabe sighed, laying down on the couch next to his twin. “Thinking you and Dean were going to be the couple of the year.”

Dean inhaled two thirds of a cookie and somehow managed to choke out. “What? That’s insane, Gabe.”

“Yeah, turns out that even with all that staring and weird codependency, the two of you might actually be straight for eachother.” Gabriel shrugged and reached for a cookie.

“Yeah, no shit.” Dean coughed, a chocolate chip still lodged somewhere in his windpipe. He gagged for a bit then, throat clear, wheezed. “You can’t have honestly thought that.”

“I did.” Anna giggled. Everyone turned to look at her. “What? Dean you practically live in Cas’ room. And Gabe’s right, the eye contact is a bit dramatic-romance-flick.”

Dean’s eyes widened. “You of all people should realize I’m into chicks, An.” He looked at Cas, who vaguely resembled a deer in headlights the size of missouri. “I mean, no offense dude.”

Cas, eyes wide and full of fear, shrugged in what was probably meant to be a gesture of  _whatever man, doesn’t matter anyway. I’m boning Satan, after all,_  but the terror made it a little less than nonchalant.

“Bisexuality  _is_  a thing, Dean.” Jo said from the carpet. “And by the way, I suppose this is when I tell you I had a bet with Ash that you and Cas would get together by Christmas. So I lost thirty bucks today. Thanks a lot.”

“Oh, darn.” Everyone turned to look at Sam, and he lifted his head from Jo’s stomach to explain. “I owe Ruby ten.” 

Dean’s jaw dropped. “Really, Sammy?  _Really_?” 

“What?” He said innocently. “Anything’s possible, right? You guys are close and stuff, could happen.”

Dean rolled his eyes and practically punched the buttons on the remote to turn the t.v. on. “You’re all idiots.” He said, then pressed play on Elf, which was, obviously, a Christmas classic.

 _Oh well that’s just awesome._  He thought, sitting in the armchair across from the t.v.  _Even my own brother sees…. well, that we’re kinda perfect for eachother. So why the hell can’t Cas?_

_Just fucking awesome._

_————————_

Cas got Dean a giftcard. A  _Starbucks_  giftcard. The most impersonal,  _who-even-gives-a-fuck-about-your-present-I-barely-remember-your-name-most-of-the-time_  gift ever given.  _Are you fucking kidding me? Even my little brother got a better gift than this shit._

“Thanks… Cas.” Dean said, turning the little plastic fuck you in his hands.

“I thought you might enjoy it.” Cas said, eyes glued to the floor. The rest of the guests exchanged impatient glances; when Sam had realized they forgot to go through Dean’s pile, Elf had been paused so Dean could open his presents. But no one really cared about present opening but the 13 year old, and even he was getting impatient at the stretch of silence enveloping them all. Everyone wanted to forget the giftcard and return to the movie and snacks, especially the recipient.

The awkward in the room was practically tangible.

————————

Dean was tempted to throw the damn thing in the garbage. Twenty bucks on a gift card. That’s it. All his friendship was worth to Cas. And not even a giftcard for anything cool, but for Starbucks, the most corporate, pretentious, overpriced shit-hole on the planet.

From his spot on the porch he could hear Sam’s girlish giggle and Gabriel’s annoying donkey laugh. He rolled his eyes, shivering against the cold.

_What the fuck are you even doing out here, Winchester? Go inside you idiot. So what if Cas doesn’t care enough about you to get you a real gift? Who cares if you freaked for like a month about what to get him? No use pouting on the porch and freezing your dick off._

The laughter got louder, and  Dean realized it was because the door was slowly opening behind him.

“Sam, get the hell back inside, you’re such a little wimp you’ll die of frostbite in about ten seconds.” He groaned, still looking out into the snow-covered scrap yard.

“Hello, Dean.” 

He closed his eyes tight. “Hey, Cas.”  _You’re not mad, you’re not mad, you’re not mad-_

“You’re angry. With me. You did not like your present.”

Dean turned around slowly. “Nah, man, it’s fine, I mean, I like coffee, it’s an awesome present. Really.”

Cas sighed and shivered in the cold December air. They stood there, watching eachother, for at least two minutes before Cas sighed again and mumbled, “Itwasn’tyourpresent.”

“Your mom’s the president?” Dean said, confused.

“It wasn’t your present.” Cas said, louder, and Dean tilted his head ( _damn nerdy freak passing his stupid twitches on to me_ )

“What do you mean, it’s not mine? You gave it to me.”

Cas’ blue eyes peered into Dean’s, a nervous expression on his face. “The card was for Michael. I didn’t know- He’s difficult to shop for.”

“So why’dyou give it to me?” He said, stepping closer.

“The others… their conversation. It made you uncomfortable, I could tell, so I thought it best not to give you something- well, an object so…” He trailed off, eyes finding the snow covered wood of the porch and staying there.

“An object so…?”

Cas flinched, as if in extreme comfort, and pulled a little black box out of his coat pocket. “ _MerryChristmasDean_ ” He muttered, shoving the box at Dean’s open hand, eyes still glued to the floor.

Dean turned it over in his hands, confused, then glanced back at Cas one more time and pried the lid off.

Inside, resting on a little bed of some soft, pillowy shit, was a silver ring. 

It wasn’t anything elegant or jewel encrusted, though it had little circles and lines carved into it. On the inside a little ‘D’ was carved into the band. Dean picked it up and held it between two fingers. It was… ( _beautiful, amazing, the best present in the history of the universe, making him want to kiss Cas until neither of them could breathe)_ awesome. _  
_

He stared at it.

And stared at it.

And  _stared_  at it.

Finally, Cas was so worried about the endless silence that he managed to blurt out, “In… certain cultures you give something like this to a close friend, someone you truly care for. But after what Anna, Gabe, Sam, and Jo were saying, about us being romantically involved, and the way you looked, I thought it might be too personal, and intimate, and I just meant, well, it’s a gift of thanks, for being my best and at first  _only_  friend, for not hating me for being boring and socially inept, for dealing with my family, for showing me kindness, and friendship, for being there for me, for tolerating Meg even though I know you hate her, for so much that I can’t even begin to say. For being you.” He took a breath and his eyes flicked to Dean’s face as he stared at the little silver ring. “I’m sorry, if it makes you uncomfortable or you don’t like it I’ll take it back and we never have to speak of-“

He was cut off abruptly by Dean striding forward and pulling him into a crushing, grateful hug.

“Shut up.” Dean said gruffly, still holding Cas tight.

They stood there, Dean gripping Cas tight and not wanting to ever let go, Cas’ arms pinned to his sides, snow covering their hair, in silence. It was freezing, they could hear Will Ferrell shrieking from inside the house and Gabriel shrieking right along with him, and Cas was still shivering in only one layer.

And yet, it was strangely perfect.

“This is  _so_  awesome, Cas.” Dean said, not caring how long the hug was lasting or how gay the moment might have been.

They pulled apart and Dean was beaming at Cas, that pure, beautiful smile that he hardly ever showed anyone. Cas froze, and his eyes locked onto Dean’s, which were so full of happiness he thought the boy might burst. He held his gaze and smiled back at him, and the entire world seemed to fade into the background as Dean, grinning, placed the ring on the fourth finger of his right hand. Dean’s eyes met Cas’ once more and they smiled at eachother, a perfect, cheesy moment in the snow.

“Merry Christmas, Dean.”

“Merry Christmas, Cas.”

The snow fell lazily on their heads and coats, and they lost track of how long they stood in those spots, just smiling at each other and enjoying the moment, before Dean spoke again.

“Jesus, it’s cold as balls out here, let’s get the fuck inside, huh?”


	9. In Which a Fanfiction is (finally) Written

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are New Years shenanigans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (pssst, I'll be posting another new chapter tomorrow)

For Dean, Christmas was the highlight of the winter season. On Christmas he got to have Cas all to himself; he had the ring, he had the cheesy movie marathon until long after midnight, he had Cas falling asleep against the couch, head resting against Dean’s shoulder, their hands brushing in the dark. Not that Dean liked cheesy romantic crap like that. 

And at four in the morning when Gabriel got up to get water, tripped over the couch, landed on Jo as she slept, and woke everyone up, if Dean’s hand had somehow found its way around Cas and was tangled in his hair, well, that was his hand’s business, wasn’t it?

But yeah, that combined with the snowball fight the six of them had the next morning made Christmas pretty freakin’ awesome. It was the next few months’ events that sucked.

————————

First, there was New Year’s.

Both of Cas’ cousins flew in to celebrate the new year, though Balthazar (again, who the fuck names their kid Balthazar _on purpose_ ) wouldn’t stop bitching the entire time about missing whatever the fuck they did in London for the new year, and refused to stop making fucking Wizard of Oz jokes that no one but Crowley found funny.

It was two days before New Year’s when Dean met Balthazar. He had climbed through the window into Cas’ room and was sitting on his bed, shaking his head in silent disapproval at the indie music that was drifting out of Cas’ speakers. Cas had gone to grab some snacks from downstairs, and that’s who Dean was expecting to come through the bedroom door when it was slowly pushed open. What he got, instead of Cas with a plate of cheetos and chex mix, (and maybe a few grapes, if Cas wanted to pursue the useless goal of getting Dean to eat healthy) was a tall, muscled blond guy with a silver dogtag necklace, staring at him like he was a piece of particularly delicious meat. Oh, and he was only wearing boxers.

“Well.” The blond (who couldn’t’ve been more than a couple years older than Dean) said, raking his eyes over Dean’s entire body and making him feel more than a little violated. His accent was weird and British and Dean hated it immediately. “I suppose with eyes that colour and such an impeccably horrible taste in fashion, added to the fact that you are currently sitting on Cassie’s bed like you own the thing, you must be Dean.”

Dean  just stared at him. “Um… I’m afraid to say yes.”

“Brilliant. Where’s Castiel?”

“Uh- Cas?” Dean wasn’t entirely sure why his brain had decided to take a coffee break, but he couldn’t help internally screaming because  _why is there a half naked guy asking for Cas and who the fuck is he and oh my god Cas is cheating on Meg thank god but no wait Cas is gay what is happening I’m so confused is it too late to run away_

“Yes, Cas. Castiel. You know, the awkwardly hot one with hair that looks like he’s just had the best shag of his life and insane blue eyes that make you want to give him a better one? About yea tall, ” He gestured to the side, showing off a muscled arm and Dean wanted to throw a pillow at him. He sighed dramatically. “The one in the dirty trenchcoat who’s in love with you. I’m sorry, are we even speaking the same language right now?”

Thankfully, at that moment Cas came around the corner with a plate full of snacks, saw the blond guy, and rolled his eyes. “Balthazar, I don’t understand what clothes have ever done to offend you so much, but I assure you, your partial nudity is appreciated by no one.” His eyes flicked down and he sighed exasperatedly. “And stop stealing my underwear.”

Well that settled it. Dean was making a run for it; if he grabbed Baby he could be out of the country in a couple days, tops. Balthazar glanced at Cas, then at Dean, and smiled. “You know you can’t resist this.” He said, gesturing to his chest.

“Hold on.” Dean found the courage to say, and both boys turned to look at him. “Cas. Are you cheating with the porn-star version of Doctor Who?”

Balthazar laughed, and winked at him. “Calm down, Rory. Our Cassie isn’t the cheating type.”

“And we’re  _cousins._ ” Cas growled, pushing past Balthazar and moving into the room with his plate of junkfood.

Dean stared, his face frozen in an expression of mild horror. No cousins should talk about each other the way Balthazar had been talking about Cas.  Ever. 

Balthazar noticed his expression and laughed. “Don’t worry, Dean. We’re not actually related in the slightest. My mum married his dad, oh, how long ago, Cassie?”

“Almost four years.” Cas muttered, sounded irritated, but he was looking at Balthazar with fondness in his eyes. He sat down on the bed next to Dean, offering the bowl of snacks to him.

“So, for almost four years we’ve been forced to call each other ‘brother’, though we’re even less related than the psychos their real mum decided to adopt.” Balthazar said, rolling his eyes. 

“Oh.” Dean said, nodding, but still confused. “So, you’re… step brothers, then?”

“Maybe.” Balthazar said with a smirk. “We prefer ‘cousins’ because ‘possibly-step-brothers-who-live-across-the-world-from-eachother is a bit of a… mouthful.”

“How are you only  _possibly_  step-brothers?”

“Well, because- do you know for certain yet, Cassie?” Balthazar glanced at Cas, who shook his head. “Because we’re not entirely sure if they’ve gotten a divorce or not.”

“I keep telling Balthazar that they went on a cruise together just this summer.”

“And I’m saying that’s crap, and he knows it. But Crowley and I are legal adults and their dad’s a twat; no offence Cassandra, I know you adore him, but the point is that we don’t see or hear from either of them long enough to ask.” Balthazar shrugged nonchalantly.

“Oh. Well-” Dean glanced at Cas, unsure of what to do. “You can hang with us, if you want, we were, uh, gonna watch Ten’s regeneration, even if Cas cries like a baby every damn time-“

Dean was cut off suddenly because Cas decided the best way of shutting him up was to hit him really hard in the face with one of his stupidly expensive pillows.

“Ey!” He cried indignantly, falling backwards on the bed.

“If anyone cries at ‘you’re going to have a great year’ and ‘I don’t want to go’, it’s you, Dean Winchester” Cas laughed, attempting to smother his friend to death with the pillow. They struggled silently for a second, before four quick knocks rang loudly through the air and both boys froze. Dean pushed the pillow away from his face and both teens turned to look at Balthazar, who was grinning next to the doorway, knuckles against the frame.

“You two are disgusting, I hope you realize.” He said, shaking his head as Dean and Cas looked at each other, confused. “And as tempting your offer might be, sitting inbetween your little snogfest and watching David Tennant burst into sparkly flames, I’ll have to pass.” He smirks, and Cas turns a bright shade of red and gets off of Dean, who absolutely does not miss the warmth.

“No, really, Balthazar, you’re welcome to stay.” Cas said, still blushing, and Dean tried to remember what a ‘snogfest’ was.

“It’s fine, Cas, I promise. And hey, all piss-taking aside?” He shrugged and smiled. “Dean, you’re seem decent enough, and Cassie could certainly have done a lot worse. He’s an innocent little thing sometimes, and you seem decent enough to him. I’m chuffed for the two of you, really.” Balthazar smiled, then frowned threateningly. “Though I think this is the bit when I tell you that if you break his heart, I will personally fly you to the Tower of London, tie you up, and let weasels eat your cock.”

 _Oh. Right. That’s what a snogfest is._  Dean sat up as Cas blushed and shook his head furiously. “We, um, we’re not- that is, we’re not, like, a couple.”

Balthazar grinned. “No labels, huh? I get it.”

“No I mean, uh, Cas?” Dean absolutely did not whimper and look to the other boy desperately to help him. Except he kinda did.

“We’re not dating. Or romantically involved. In any capacity. We’re friends.” Cas said, sounding infinitely more composed than Dean feels.

Balthazar’s face shifted into an expression so shocked it was almost comical, as he glanced between them quickly. “But, I thought- Cassie, your email-“

Cas nearly shouted at the Brit. “I wasn’t talking about  _Dean_!” He cried, and Dean had never been more confused. Balthazar raised one eyebrow, looking strangely skeptical, and Dean wondered what the hell that email had said. Cas groaned semi-exasperatedly, though it sounded a bit forced, and said “I know I was vague, but I was talking about this girl, Meg. Meg Masters.” The two not-cousins held each-others’ gaze for a second, and Dean could only see Balthazar, but he could tell a silent conversation was happening in front of him. And he was still very much in the dark. Cas continued, eyes never leaving Balthazar’s. “She’s my girlfriend now.”

“Oh.” Balthazar nodded, slowly. “And you’re… straight, then?”

“Yes?” Cas said it like a question, and Dean gave up on the whole damn thing and shifted his attention to playing with Cas’ hair idly. Balthazar noticed the motion and grinned.

“My mistake.” He gave them both a mocking bow and winked at Dean. “You boys have fun.”

And Dean stretched over Cas, who seemed to be hyperventilating, and grabbed a handful of popcorn. “Fuck you, Novak. I have never cried during Doctor Who.” He grinned and threw a kernel at Cas’ face, and Cas poured the bowl over Dean’s head, and Balthazar was forgotten.

————————

New Years… well, okay, yeah, the party was pretty awesome, kudos to Gabe. But the majority of it sucked.

Dean pulled up to the Harvelle’s door and honked the horn twice, straightening his bowtie in the mirror (feeling like quite the little douchebag and wondering how the hell Cas had talked him into wearing one) (oh yeah, because it was Cas and he had trouble saying no to him) (shut up). The door opened and Dean glanced over, only to see Ellen standing on the porch, a hand on her hip. She waved him over with two fingers, glaring at him, and Dean practically ran out of the car.

“Well don’t you look handsome.” She said, smiling, then the smile disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. “Don’t you ever honk at my daughter again, I don’t care what’s going on you never wait in the car for your date, you go to the door and act like you have some damn class.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “I’m not dating Jo.”

“But you’re taking her to this party, and you’ll be a gentleman if I have to beat manners into you myself. Now get inside, it’s freezing.” She said with a grin, and ushered him into the lit house, where he could finally see her properly.

Dean looked her up and down as she raised an eyebrow at him, and whistled softly. “Well,  _hello_  Miss Harvelle. ” She had on a modest but very flattering black dress, her hair was curled to the side, and she was wearing heels.  _Heels._  “Don’t you look gorgeous.” He said with a wink, and she smacked his head fondly, rolling her eyes.

“Oh, shut it.”

“No really, you’re quite the MILF.” He said, and was eternally thankful that she seemed not to know what that meant. “Where’re you off to this fine evening?”

“Adults have parties too, Dean. Even if the cops don’t need to be called for ours.” Ellen smirked and nodded towards the stairs. “Tell my daughter she needs to be home by two, and that I  _will_  be waiting.” She patted him on the back fondly and walked out the door.

He smiled and shook his head, then turned to shout up the stairs. “JO! GET DOWN HERE WE’RE ALREADY LATE!” 

There came an exasperated cry of ‘coming!’ and then the clacking of heels down the stairs.

“Well?” Jo said as she reached the bottom of the stairs, then paused to spin in place. “What do you think?”

Dean felt his jaw drop to the floor as he looked over his little sister (in all ways except that whole actually being related thing) in the most sultry and beautiful dress he’d ever seen. The dress was red and backless, not to mention low-cut and with a slit up the side. Her hair was up in a messy bun, and blonde ringlets fell from it idly. She had a little diamond necklace on, and dark red lipstick. Honestly, she looked like a model. And there was no damn way Dean was letting her leave the house.

“Uh, shit, I forgot to tell you, Cas called and said Gabe changed his mind and it isn’t formal at all. So, um, you should probably get some jeans on. And maybe one of your old camp t-shirts.”

“Ooh, that good?” Jo said, winking. She laughed at the confused expression on his face. “You only try to get me to change into something frumpy when I look hot.”

“No, no, Cas did call and-“

“And you thought ‘fuck it, might as well wear the bowtie I hate anyway’? You’re so full of shit.” Jo strutted over to him and smiled. “I’d kiss you on the cheek to be condescending and classy, but I don’t want to ruin my makeup.” She said with a grin and almost sashayed past him.

“You’re such a  _girl_  sometimes!” He groaned, before following her out the door. He then proceeded to offer her his jacket seven times in the two minute drive to the Novak’s house, before she told him exactly what she’d do with his damn jacket if he didn’t shut up.

————————

As Dean had suspected, when they arrived at the Novak’s house the party was already in full swing. And it was remarkably classy. Pretty much everyone was dressed in gowns and tuxes,  which wasn’t all that surprising; Gabe’s parties (and his rules about how they were conducted) had become legendary.  Sure, there were two or three guys who had obviously thought the dress code was a joke and just thrown on blazers over t-shirts, but they were huddled in a corner and glancing over at Gabe with terror in their eyes as he glared at them from across the room.

If nothing else, the state of the Novak’s house was a testament to Gabe’s dedication and love of classy parties. The entire bottom floor, with its high ceilings and huge-ass living room, had been transformed. Romantic lighting hung from the ceiling and all the furniture had been moved, and it looked so much like a ballroom Dean wondered for a minute if this was the same house in which he and Gabe had hosted an underwear contest after many shots of God-knows-what, joining Ash, Chuck, Victor, Luc (and even a reluctant Cas) as contestants while Anna, Jo, Meg (and a wasted Kali) voted on the winner.

Gabe saw them the moment they arrived, glaring at them both, and the impact of the glare should have been lessened by the fact that he was wearing a bright pink suit, but it somehow wasn’t in the slightest.

“Well, look who’s late and stupid.” Gabe said, moving over to them, and Dean was absolutely not intimidated by the shorter man. Honest, he wasn’t. “Joanna, you are so lucky you’re beautiful enough I that I don’t care.” He reached for her hand and kissed it with a smirk, and she rolled her eyes at him, but giggled all the same. “And you lying wench, no way you’re a virgin, going around looking like that.” Dean made the offended noise of a protective older brother, and Gabe turned to look at him. “And you, older stupider Winchester, your beauty doesn’t affect me in the slightest but I know my little brother would cry for a year if I kicked you out. So don’t be late again, got it?” He kissed Dean’s hand too, and laughed when Dean hit him teasingly with the back of his hand. “Save the rough stuff for Cas, kay Dean-o?”

And speaking of Cas, where the hell was he? _I wanna show him my bow-tie_  Dean did not just think that.  _But he’ll be happy to hear I figured out how to tie the damn thing myself._  Or that.

And as if just thinking about him could summon the boy, at that moment Cas emerged from the kitchen, talking to Becky. If Dean wasn’t so focused on Cas, he might’ve noticed that with the right dress, Becky looked really nice; all draped in an emerald dress that, even though it failed to accentuate her figure, looked really nice with her skin tone, and smiling shyly at Chuck from across the room. But no, Dean was a bit too focused on Cas to notice anyone but him.

He had thought the waistcoat on Halloween was bad for his sexuality, but that was until he saw Cas in a tight white button-up shirt and suspenders, the top couple of buttons unbuttoned, bow tie hanging loosely around his neck. He looked like classy sex and all Dean could do was stare as Cas caught his eye from across the room, his smirk fading as he looked at Dean.

Only Becky heard the way Cas stammered and tripped over his words as Dean smiled at him from across the room, only Becky noticed the way Dean’s eyes roamed over Cas hungrily, and so only Becky mentally wrote fanfiction about the two. Not that anyone else at the party would’ve anyway, but still.

_The music soars through the air around them and the entire party fades into he background as Dean takes in Cas’ outfit. He can’t keep himself from watching the boy as he walks, ignoring even the stunning beauty next to him, even though at any other time he would be absolutely captivated by her subtle curves and all-around sexiness. The gorgeous goddess with soft, golden hair that took hours to get right and all for stupid Chuck and it’s not like he even notices, in fact, he would be lucky to have such a beauty even give him the time of day! But no, he’s too wrapped up in himself to even notice her. Well, his loss. She’s too radiant to be dulled by him. … but anyway, Dean can feel the arousal spreading deep within him, devouring him from the inside out and pouring into the blossoming hard-on barely contained beneath sexy black pants. He lets out a sensuous groan and bit his delicate lip, imagining Cas’ thin yet toned body writhing against him. He thinks of hallway closets and gripping firmly onto the angel-faced boy’s suspenders and pulling him into a rough kiss, claiming his mouth, neck, and jaw with desperate passion. He brims of thoughts of slamming the boy against a wall, all desperation and need, grinding against him fiercely until Cas is reduced to a moaning  breathless wreck. They’d rut desperately and deliciously, rubbing their throbbing members against eachother until they both screamed for release. He’d grasp firmly into Cas’s soft porcelain flesh and mark him with sucks and bites, tearing him apart and rebuilding him, worshipping him and making the boy groan in delicious pleasure._

_Piercing emerald orbs meet the luminescent morning sky as he holds Cas’ gaze, imagining a thousand different ways of claiming the younger boy as his own. Castiel, for his part, forgets the gorgeous siren on his arm and the vixen in his bed, and sees only Dean. Only his eyes, green as spring grass dotted by the early morning dew, his fitted suit and gorgeous face. Dean would be nothing like Meg, she was soft and compliant, where Dean would be a god among men. The mighty Ares, all furious fire and a shaft powerful and strong. He’d be hard planes and muscle, all strength and need and desperation and Castiel would complete him, giving him everything he was, just as he always had._

Becky snapped herself out of porn mode to look at Cas again. She blushed as she realized that he  had been trying to get her attention, then told him that he should go talk to Dean, no, she’s fine, she needs a drink anyway. 

_Dean watches him with hungry eyes as the boy leads him, smirking, to his room._

_“Cas, we can’t do this.” He says, barely suppressing a groan as Cas grinds against him with the skill of a professional, making him go insane with want. The friction alone would be enough to get him off, and his hands move of their own accord, roaming over Cas’ shirtless chest and settling roughly on his hips as Cas sucks his way down Dean’s throat._

_“I thought I told you to be quiet. We don’t want anyone walking in, do we?” Cas says with a wicked grin, his voice like melted chocolate and sandpaper, rough and rasping in lust, and Dean moans at the sound of it. Cas begins moving nimble fingers down, past Dean’s beltline, and resumes his attack on the older boy’s neck._

_“Ca-oh god, Cas!” Dean groans, deep and guttural  as Cas’ fingers find their target. “Dammit Cas, this is so wrong-“_

_“If this is wrong, I don’t want to be right.” Cas pulls away then, almost shy, looking like sex incarnate with lips swollen from Dean’s earlier ravaging, and hair sticking up in all directions, blushing and panting, chest glistening with sweat and heaving passionately. He looks at Dean desperately and waits for his approval._

_The sight of him goes straight to Dean’s dick as he rushes forwards and captures Cas’ mouth in his, consequences be damned. His last concious thought is a silent apology to Meg, before he loses himself in the rhythm of Cas’ hips and the dirty promises spilling out of his tongue. He doesn’t remember when he lost his shirt, or when they moved away from the bed, but suddenly his back is against the wall and Cas is licking his way down Dean’s chest in teasing lines, and he bites down hard on his nipple and Dean’s  groan shakes the room around them._

_And then he pulls Cas back up for a kiss, and it’s tongue and biting and fire and need. He has a leg wrapped around Cas and is grinding against him like his life depends on it, and it’s too much and not enough and every inch of him is throbbing. He growls possessively into Cas’ mouth and spins the porcelain boy around and pushes him fiercely into the wall. Cas slams into it, shaking the house and rattling the pictures on the wall, but neither of them notices. Cas makes a little noise of surprise but Dean silences it by licking into his mouth and the noise turns into a moan. It’s Dean’s turn._

_He moves slowly downward, licking down Cas’ marble chest and biting softly at his nipple, making Cas writhe with passion. He stops at the zipper of Cas’ trousers, heavy warm breath making its way to Cas’ member. Dean looks at Cas’ cerulean eyes for a moment before undoing the pants and letting them fall to the floor. His fingers tease at the elastic of Cas’ boxers tauntingly, before they slide under the band and push away the cotton barrier. Dean groans at the sight before him, throbbing with want. Cas’ breath comes in shutters, they are both silent as Dean licks his lips tauntingly. Then Dean reaches out with teasing fingers and-_

And Becky really needed some fresh air and a drink of water.

She glanced over to where Cas and Dean were talking.  _Sorry for imagining a really hot sex scene between you and your best friend_  she thought, shaking her head as she walked away.  _But I mean, can you blame me? With his sex eyes and mouth and your voice and hair that just scream really hot blowjo- shit. Maybe I should go find Chuck._

Becky would’ve been pleasantly surprised to find that her suspicions about the boys’ thoughts were not especially far from the truth, though her predictions as to what they’d be doing later that night were quite a bit off. However, being the diligent shipper she was, she maintained a close eye on the two of them for the rest of the night, jotting down their actions inbetween waiting for Chuck to notice her and looking determinedly away from him when he did.

_The precise and diligent observations of Becky Rosen, esquire, (henceforth referred to as the Operative) regarding Castiel Novak (henceforth referred to as Angel) and Dean Winchester (henceforth referred to as Spike)_

_10:13pm: Angel and Spike see eachother, sparks fly. So much UST Dr. Sexy is jealous._

_10:28pm: Angel and Spike have been staring longingly at eachother for almost two minutes. The Operative wonders if maybe they have brain damage or if they really just like staring at each other._

_10:29pm: Spike is snapping Angel’s suspenders teasingly. Operative thinks she might actually die of all the cuteness._

_10:30pm: Operative has discovered the true meaning of ‘bedroom eyes’. She is forever changed._

_10:31pm: JUST FUCK ALREADY_

_10:47pm: Meg Masters (henceforth referred to as Faith) has found Angel. Let the records show she is wearing a dress that leaves almost nothing to the imagination, out of which her boobs are almost falling. Honestly, she looks like a very pretty hooker. And a well-bought one; her necklace is exquisite. It matches the bright red of her dress and the jewels look like tiny flames. Operative suspects it was a present from Angel; Faith is playing with it and Spike looks murderous._

_10:50pm: Faith and Angel have disappeared, she (in her 6-inch heels) has led him away from his true love. Spike does not look pleased._

_10:52pm: Spike is pouting on the couch._

_10:54pm: Seriously, it’s like someone kicked a puppy._

_11:00pm: Spike looks up everytime someone walks by, then shrinks a little when it’s not Angel. Operative would like to light herself on fire._

_11:06pm: Spike punches a senior for groping Joanna Harvelle (henceforth referred to as Buffy). Then pins him against the wall and growls threateningly in his face. It’s more than a little sexy. Operative should get more water._

_11:08pm: Handsy senior has been thrown out; Buffy scolds Spike for fighting her battles, Spike rolls his eyes. Anna (henceforth referred to as Willow) is teasing them both. Spike kisses her on the cheek and she blushes. Operative does not like Willow._

_11:09pm: Willow and Spike are talking in the kitchen and she won’t stop touching him. Angel and Faith are still nowhere to be found. Operative is frustrated._

_11:10pm: Spike and Gabriel (henceforth referred to as Cordelia) are doing jello shots. Operative is worried about Spike getting alcohol poisoning._

_11:12pm: Faith and Angel have returned. Angel appears red-faced, Faith’s makeup is smudged. Operative assumes the worst. As in sex._

_11:14pm: Faith and Angel refuse to look at eachother, distance is maintained. Operative assumes the best. As in they’re breaking up!!_

_11:15pm: Angel has entered in a shot-taking competition with a burly senior._

_11:21pm: Angel can really hold his liquor. Spike seems about to kiss him._

_11:22pm: Guess not._

_11:23pm: FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WHY AREN’T YOU KISSING_

_11:23pm: Boys are stupid._

_11:25pm: If he puts his arm around him one more time, I swear to god I will cut someone._

_11:26pm: So otp it’s actually painful._

_11:26pm: Does NO ONE else notice this???_

_11:27pm: Operative gives up, goes to get one of Cordelia’s penis-shaped cookies. Operative considers showering Angel and Spike in them. Realizes this may be too subtle._

_11:28pm: Operative meets sexy british boy who is has been invited to the party by Angel. Operative is less frustrated with Angel’s existence._

_11:34pm: Operative returns to side room to find Angel and Faith have disappeared again. Operative knows this is the end of their relationship. Operative does happy dance._

_11:35pm: Operative is gently told by Willow that happy dances are considered ‘weird’ by classmates. Operative stops._

_11:36pm: Operative returns to overly-flirty british boy and melts in a puddle. His name is Balthazar (henceforth referred to as Wesley). Wesley compliments the Operative’s dress. Operative ponders whether or not is socially appropriate to drag him into a closet and have her way with him. Operative waits for the right moment for sexy closet dragging._

_11:37pm: Operative observes Wesley from across the room and ponders the uses of body chocolate._

_11:39pm: Wesley is nowhere to be found. Operative wonders who would top. Spike’s the more aggressive of the two, Angel’s very subby at times._

_11:40pm: Though he did beat up that senior guy… yeah, maybe Angel would top._

_11:40pm: Nah, Spike has too much pride._

_11:40pm: But wow would that be hot, Angel’s low voice growling out orders, Spike looking up at him through those gentle eyelashes, green eyes flashing with need and whimpering at the sight of Angel, oh sweet jesus_

_11:41pm: DAMMIT WHO WOULD TOP_

_11:42pm: you know what, fuck it. the idiots can take turns_

_11:45pm: Angel and Faith reappear. Angel’s hair is messy, lips swolen, his shirt is misbuttoned. Faith is in the same state of disrepair, though wearing a much more modest dress, this one goes down to her ankles, though the neckline is much lower. The Operative hopes the makeup sex was worth it as she and Spike share twin murderous expressions._

_11:46pm: Goddammit ~~Gabriel~~  Cordelia turn that hipster crap off I am so sick of everyone’s bullshit tonight WHY WON’T THEY LOVE EACHOTHER_

_11:48pm: Angel and Faith have been holding hands constantly. Angel repeatedly whispers in her ear and she blushes and smiles at his words. Operative refuses to find them cute._

_11:50pm: Okay, maybe they are a little. BUT OPERATIVE REMAINS DEVOTED TO HER NEW OTP_

_11:51pm: Spike is chatting up some girl in Operative’s Biology class. Operative resists urge to throw a chair through a window. Barely. Operative distracts herself by attempting to come up with a ship name for the two idiots._

_11:52pm: Winchak. Dastiel. Novester. Castiean. Operative comes up with nothing and life in general is a disappointment._

_11:54pm: Cordelia forces everyone to watch the Times Square special thing. Operative is not amused. Winvak. Fuck._

_11:56pm: Operative wonders what she is doing with her life as people subtly pair up for New Year’s kisses and she is, as always, left out. Operative eyes Wesley from across the room._

_11:58pm: BOO-FUCKING YEAH CORDELIA JUST SHOUTED FOR EVERYONE TO GET READY FOR NEW YEARS KISSES AND THAT PEOPLE SHOULD MAKE THIS KISS COUNT BECAUSE IT’S THE FIRST OF THE NEW YEAR AND IT’S SPECIAL AND ALL THAT AND SPIKE AND ANGEL’S EYES FOUND EACHOTHER INSTANTLY IT’S MEANT TO BE I SWEAR TO GOD I FUCKING LOVE DEASTIEL! no, that one sucks too. but I’m close._

_11:59pm: Operative is putting away notebook and will approach Wesley, because #yolo (Operative regrets writing that)_

_12:09am: Operative has found damn notebook. Operative hates everything. Operative will no longer be using codenames because they’re stupid and childish._

_Here’s what you missed last week on becky rosen should stop going outside because everyone outside of tumblr is an idiot_

  * _Cas and Meg kissed passionately as the clock struck_
  * _Dean and Bio girl (Becca? Beth? Blair? something with a B) made out like Ron and Lavender, with just as much pain on my part_
  * _Jo pulled Balthazar in for a surprise kiss; if she wasn’t so awesome I would be a lot more bitter_
  * _Chuck was nowhere to be found because he’s an antisocial hobbit and not in a good way_
  * _Gabe turned off the t.v. and ordered the ballroom be put to good use. Slow love songs drifted through the air and guess what? Cas is a goddamn flawless dancer and Meg’s new dress swirls around her and she looks like a princess goddamit_
  * _No okay let me clarify that shit for you_
  * _Cas has obviously taken ballroom dancing clases sometime in his life because his stupid footwork is flawless and he looks like damn royalty and he’s so dapper and he spins Meg every once in a while and she giggles and her hair looks like a goddamn pantene commerical and they look absolutely perfect i’m going to throw up i s2g_
  * _Dean watched Cas as he danced, and Cas watched him back before pulling his eyes away and smiling at Meg. I officially gave up_
  * _I couldn’t find this stupid notebook because some drunk asshole threw it across the room_
  * _Hey guess who hasn’t been asked to dance by anyone??_
  * _This notebook is my only friend and even it tried to leave me_
  * _Jo and Balthazar look perfect together, Cas and Meg look like fucking royalty, Dean and B-something have stopped having clothed sex and now he’s gracelessly moving her around the dance floor and even THAT looks sexy and intimate, Gabe is doing some sort of slow, sex-tango with Kali and she’s like a foot taller than in him in those heels and they sill look perfect_
  * _Oh yeah, and Balthazar is dancing with Jo now and she can’t dance so he’s teaching her and he’s holding her close with those strong hands and they’re flirting and it makes me angry_
  * _Did I mention Anna is dancing with this senior guy who looks like a model and they also look like royalty because apparently dancing like a fucking pro is a prerequisite to being a Novak_
  * _this is the worst New Years ever_



~~_Cas smiled softly at Dean, before pulling him softly in. “I think you’ll find I’m a great teacher. I’ll lead.” He whispered, guiding Dean’s hands gently._ ~~

~~_“Oh hell no, I’m not the girl here.” Dean protests, but lets Cas lead him around the now-empty living room anyway. The music is soft as they move together, laughing as Dean makes a mistake, before finally stopping after a few minutes of fumbling._ ~~

~~_“Maybe dancing isn’t for me.” Dean shrugged, blushing, and runs a hand through his hair._ ~~

~~_“Maybe not.” Cas looks down at the floor, before smiling up at Dean again. “But I’ll never give up on you.” He pulls Dean even closer, and leans in until his lips are centimeters from his ear. Dean feels hot breath against his ear and nearly shuddered at the sensation. “We’ll start slowly.”_ ~~

_12: 32am: I am so boredddddddd_

_12:57am: Dean has left with Bgirl. Jo and Balthazar have disappeared. Ash just showed up with mismatched socks, carrying a giant panda. Cas is trying to convince Gabriel not to pour soup on some sleeping guy in an arm chair (and I won’t ask why he has an army boot filled with soup) Anna and model-senior-guy are making out in the kitchen, which has to be really unsanitary. The one glimmer of light so far has been how sad Cas looked when he saw Dean leave and how bored he looks with what Meg has been talking to him about. Nevertheless, I’ve decided to go home. This entire party was a disappointment, and I’d rather be at home updating my Sterek revolutionary war au. This is the operative, signing off._

————————

New Years marked Cas and Meg’s first fight, and there were plenty more to come. Dean and the rest of their friends were never really sure what the fights were about, but they all eventually learned to get a safe distance away as quickly as possible when the fights began. And somehow, every single time the couple fought, Dean was affected the most, and got the worst of it.

After a few weeks, Dean noticed a pattern present in every one of their bow-ups.

_1\. Cas and Meg are sickeningly cute_

“Remind me, whose moronic idea was it to embark on a half-frozen trek to a goddamn cabin, located in god-knows-where South Dakota, in the middle of _January_ , and then forgot where this magical woodland retreat was?”

“That would be shit-for-brains Winchester, my darling twin.” Gabe grumbled, adjusting his puffy coat and two sweaters, each of which was a different but equally bright neon color.

“Oh, right.” Anna said, performing the world famous Novakian Head Tilt of Confusion and/or Contemplation, before turning to punch Dean in the arm. 

“Ow!” Dean cried, rubbing at the sore spot on his arm. “Hey, it’s Jo’s uncles’ stupid cabin, why aren’t you punching her?”

“Because I told you I had  _no idea_  where the damn cabin was at least nine times.” Jo scoffed and readjusted her earmuffs. “But  _no_ , Dean Winchester doesn’t  _do_  logic. He has to explore the great outdoors!”

“Shut up, Harvelle, it’s fun.”

“There’s at least a foot of snow on the ground and I’m so cold I think I might’ve died of hypothermia already and I’m in hell, reliving my worst memories until I go insane. Your definition of fun sucks.” Bela growled from beside Jo, glaring at Dean. “And for the record? Worst date ever.”

“Thanks, babe.” Dean said as Kali and Lisa snickered from behind them.

Balthazar pulled his ridiculous black trenchcoat tighter around him and adjusted his pretentious striped scarf. “Okay, petition for a sweaty orgy in a room heated to the temperature of the sodding sun when we get back.” He threw a wink at Jo in for good measure, who blushed and looked away, then glared at Dean when he rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, our golden couple can get us started.” Gabe said, nodding to where Meg and Cas walked, a few feet in front of the others, hands intertwined, stopping every minute or so to kiss or run their hands all over eachother or do other disgusting couple things that made Dean want to projectile vomit. At one point Cas actually bent down and rubbed his nose against Meg’s, who then blushed and pushed him away, a shy smile on her face. Dean mimed puking then kicked angrily at a tree.

Bela giggled. “I can totally see Cas as an orgy guy.” She nodded in the couple’s direction. “Dean, can you please arrange a foursome with them, it would be so much fun.” 

 _Worst girlfriend ever,_  Dean grumbled as Bela and Jo laughed histerically at the terrified expression on his face.

“Ugh, how long until we get back to civilization?” Kali whined, her gloved pinky linked with Lisa’s, then giggled as Gabe came up behind them and pressed sloppy kisses on both girls’ cheeks.

Dean welcomed the distraction as Cas took Meg’s hand and spun her in the snow.  _Honestly, how is it possible for a gremlin to look so pretty? What a bitch._  “I’d say… maybe 15 minutes? Give or take?”

Gabe nodded slowly. “And how long ‘till the snuggle bunnies decide it’s time for fun adventures in snow sex?” 

Balthazar smirked and said, “I’d say ten minutes, tops. Then the layers start coming off.” He glance at Dean. “Shame it’s not you, Dean; taking off your solid six inches of plaid would give us at least another hour.”

Gabe barked out a laugh. “You know, I forgot how much fun you were, maybe-step-brother.” He eyed Balthazar with a smile, then looked back to where Kali was trying to pull Lisa away from ‘all the pretty icicles’. He raised an eyebrow and she sighed exasperatedly.

“Oh, go on then.” She waved a hand dismissively. “It’ll be hot anyway.”

Gabe pressed the palms of his hands together and gave her a mock bow of gratitude, then marched through the (admittedly really thick) snow over to Balthazar and pulled him roughly by the collars into a kiss.

Jo’s jaw dropped to the ground, Bela gasped gleefully, and Lisa turned and with wide eyes forgot all about the icicles. A purely  _evil_  smirk crept onto Kali’s face as she watched Balthazar grab onto Gabe’s clothes roughly and pull him into the kiss even harder.

Dean really, really needed to bleach his entire brain. Watching two annoying dicks make out was probably his least favorite activity, and the situation was in no way improved by Lisa turning to Kali and whispering, almost reverently  “Height difference”. Kali’s smirk just widened as she nodded slowly.

Dean groaned and spun around, wanting to  _just fucking get out of this frozen wasteland without being scarred for life, thanks_. Unfortunately, up ahead, Cas and Meg had apparently found a brand new way of keeping warm and were making out in the clearing.

Dean could not. Catch. A. Break.  _Jesus could the two of you not keep it in your pants for like ten minutes why the hell don’t I live somewhere with frozen cliffs to push Meg off wait where are her hands sweet dear jesus where the hell are meg’s hands oh god I don’t think I want to know ew ew ew ew ew_

He turned around determinedly, then thanked every god in existence when he saw that Gabe and Balthazar had separated. Well, you know, ish. They were still just inches away from eachother, breathing heavily. Jo, Kali, Lisa and Bela were all staring at the two boys with either obnoxious smirks or dumbfounded expressions.

“Huh.” Gabe sighed, and Balthazar let out a breathy laugh and released his grip on the younger boy’s coat.

“Well, that was… sudden.”

Gabe smirked. “Bring back any good memories?”

“Ooh, yes. Just like San Diego, really.”

Gabe rolled his eyes. “You and I remember San Diego very differently.” He tilted his head ( _seriously, was this confused head tilty shit genetic or what??_ ) and thought for a second. “Nope.” He called to where he knew Kali was standing. “I don’t think we’ll keep him.”

Balthazar placed a hand on his chest, acting offended, as Kali stuck out her bottom lip in a pout. “But the  _accent._ ” She whined, then her voice lowered into an almost purr. “You know it’s sexy. And he seems like a biter.” 

“True, but he doesn’t like chocolate or most sweets. Pass.” Gabe made a beckoning gesture with his hand and Kali let go of Lisa and skipped over to him, pressing a quick kiss to his lips as she did so.

“That was  _disgusting_.” Dean said, making a face. “I can never un-see that, I really hope you realize.”

“Ugh, Dean, you are such a-” But they never heard exactly what Dean was, because Kali was cut off by a loud shout.

_2\. Meg starts screaming._

“What, like the way you appreciate me?!” Meg pushed at Cas’ chest. Cas looked pissed, and more than a little embarrassed as he glanced at the group in the snow. He leaned a little closer to Meg and Dean watched as his mouth moved slightly.

“No, I will not  _keep my voice down_.” She mocked, her voice lowering to a scratchy rough imitation of Cas’ voice. “Who the fuck says you have the right to tell me what to do?”

“Oh good lord.” Gabe rolled his eyes and glanced at Anna, who sighed.

“Bela, Lisa, you’re on Meg. Talk about dildos or manipulating men or whatever your club whispers about when the rest of us aren’t around. Jo, take Balth and Gabe back home so they can get a car to pick our drama queen up in. Dean, you and I got Cas. Kali, I dunno sweetie, do as you please.” Anna said, turning back to the couple with a frown.

_3\. Cas is hurt._

“God, you act as if yours is the only dick I’ve ever blessed with my touch. Get over yourself, pretty boy. You’re nothing but a whiny, annoying little nerd without me. You’re lucky I’ve stuck with you this long.” Cas flinched and stepped back at her words. “If I wanted, I could have a fucking  _armada_  of men lining up to spread my knees.” She spat, pushing at Cas’ chest.

“Son of a  _bitch_.” Dean groaned, eyeing Anna, who looked just as apprehensive as he felt.

The group waited with anxious breaths as Cas’ eyes darkened and he growled out a response.

_4\. Cas unleashes some heavenly wrath._

“Tell me, Meg. Does this complete lack of dignity stem from your abandonment issues over your worthless father? Or maybe your alcoholic mother has been giving you lessons in how to fake self-esteem by being cruel to the people who care about you.”

Meg stepped back, looking like she’d been slapped. 

Cas leaned in towards her with cold eyes and said, just loudly enough for the approaching group to hear, “Or maybe you’re just a whore.”

_5\. Dean and Anna tag team picking up the pieces._

“I swear to god, Cas. If you make me watch another episode of Merlin I’ll bury you in snow and let you freeze to death.” Dean said, searching Bobby’s cabinets for Cas’ favorite mug. It had a swirling cloud of green colors and golden flecks; Bobby’s wife had bought a long time ago, and Cas was always saying how it reminded him of his favorite color. 

Not that Dean remembered cheesy crap like that.

Anna’s head shot up. She was currently sitting on the couch with Cas’ head in her lap, a blanket draped over the both of them, and was running her hands through Cas’ hair comfortingly. She turned to glare at Dean. “Cas, you can watch whatever show you want. Dean will just have to fucking deal with it, right Dean?”

Dean glared right back, having finally found the mug. “Sure.” He spat, then turned to pour hot chocolate into his (a misshapen clay glazed rainbow-slinky-shaped mug that Sam made in seventh grade), Anna’s (a cracked old brown and grey one that  _Anna will just have to fucking deal with because I’m watching fucking merlin_ ) and Cas’ mugs. “Annie bananie!” He chirped, knowing full well how much she hated him for calling her that. “Your hot chocolate is ready!”

“Keep it, Winchester.” Anna sighed, untangling herself from Cas and opening Netflix on Dean’s laptop. “Ugh, seriously, you should really hook up Netflix to your t.v., it’d be so much easier.”

“Episode nine.” Cas muttered, pulling the blankets tighter around himself.

“Sorry, sweetie.” Anna clicked on the right episode and then smirked as Dean flinched at the sound of the intro. She walked into the kitchen and whispered to Dean, “So, I’ve got a date in, like, half an hour and I’m not even vaguely ready, so I’m leaving the pissy wilting flower in your very capable hands.” She then grabbed her coat, kissed Cas on the cheek, and was out the door before Dean could even think of a way to protest.

_6\. Cas becomes a grumpy sloth._

“I fucking hate Uther.” Dean grumbled, shifting in his seat.

“He reminds me of Zachariah.”

“Fucking hate him, too.” Dean said, reaching over Cas to grab his mug for another swig of hot chocolate.

“Yes, thank you, I gathered that.” Cas scoffed, shifting and burrowing in a little closer to Dean as he did. He had his arms wrapped around Dean’s waist because when Cas got grumpy, he liked to hold something close to him. Most people would have picked a teddy bear, but Cas always went for Dean.

Dean determinedly ignored the way his heart did little (he was not calling them fluttery) things whenever Cas breathed in, or whenever his hand ghosted over Dean’s arm, or - shut up.

“Arthur has good taste, Gwen’s a babe.”

“Please never say that again.” Cas huffed, and Dean could tell he was rolling his eyes. “Besides, Merlin is Arthur’s soulmate. Gwen is…. convenient.”

“Okay, then, Becky.”

“Becky is a lovely girl with many talents. So you should shut up about her.”

“Wow, someone’s touchy.” Dean laughed, but didn’t say anything else. Not even about the cheesy dragon or how the kingdom apparently only had twelve knights.

He did, however, speak up a little later. “You know, Morgana reminds me of Meg.”

“How so?” Cas murmured, half asleep.

“Oh you know, sense of entitlement, evilness, stupidly perfect hair, they both worship Satan and hate their families, they don’t deserve the lives they’ve been given, they get in the way of-” Dean stopped suddenly and blushed, but Cas didn’t see.

“You should be nicer to her, I think the two of you would get along if you tried.” Cas mumbled into Dean’s shoulder. Dean really fucking doubted that.

_7\. Meg is not fucking welcome but intrudes anyway._

 Cas had been asleep for around twenty minutes when Meg nearly kicked down the door to the house. Dean had paused Merlin and opened Spotify, and was listening to AC/DC. When the door (which Anna really should have locked) swung open and collided with the wall, it’s possible Dean screamed the slightest bit like a twelve-year-old girl, but he’d never admit it.

“Cas?” She cried, rushing into the room.

Cas shifted and slowly sat up, blinking at his-  girlfriend, harpy, hagtroll, whatever; Dean knew Meg wasn’t fond of labels.

” Meg.” Cas moved off the couch and stood up, facing Meg with a determined expression.

“Dean!” Dean laughed, looking between them, in an attempt to break a bit of the ridiculous tension.

Meg whipped around to face him, snow flying off her hair as she did so. “Dean. What are you doing here?”

“This is my house. ” Dean scoffed, incredulous.

“Yes, it’s lovely, congratulations you special snowflake you.” She turned back to Cas. “I- We should talk.”

“I think you’ve said everything you needed to say.” Cas growled, hands clenched at his sides.

Meg sighed exasperatedly. “Dean, give us some space.”

He looked up from where his laptop was still blasting ‘Highway to Hell’, and subtly turned up the volume. “This is  _my_ house.”

“Yeah, you act like I care.” Meg rolled her eyes. “Go on, pretty eyes. Upstairs, the grownups are talking now.”

_8\. Dean needs new friends._

Dean groaned, turning up the volume on his radio up to 11, the loudest it went. It did nothing to drown out the shouting match going on below him, in fact, he was pretty sure the couple was encouraged by the classic rock. The door to his room opened.

“Hey, Sammy.” Dean shouted over the music.

Sam glared at him, the effect of which was slightly ruined by his fuzzy pajama pants covered in cartoon moose and his faded Smurfs shirt. “Dean, I am trying to enjoy my winter vacation before I go back to school and start work again. He’s your boyfriend, she’s your arch-enemy, get them to shut up!” He shouted, waving his hands exasperatedly, before marching back out the door and slamming it shut behind him.

 _Jesus, when did that kid get so damn dramatic_  Dean thought, flopping backwards onto the bed.

_9\. Dean **really**  needs new friends._

Dean sat up in bed when he heard the door slam, then turned down the music immediately. He listened intently, but heard nothing. No shouting, nothing.  _Awesome,_  he grinned and jumped out of his bed, hoping to reclaim his laptop and maybe his Cas. A Merlin marathon was looking pretty good, now that he thought about it.

He moved quickly down the stairs, whistling a little, and entered the living room.

Which, it turned out, Meg had not in fact left.

Instead, Cas had her pinned to the front door, and surveying the scene, Dean finally understood what people meant when they said someone was kissing violently. Meg was pulling so hard on Cas hair it couldn’t’ve been anything but painfull, and Meg’s feet weren’t even on the ground anymore; they were wrapped around Cas. Dean spared a quick second to be embarrassingly turned on by seeing Cas kiss like that, before remembering the disgusting scene before him.

“Jesu-” Dean groaned, running his hand through his hair. “You are the worst friends ever- this is  _my house_!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so thank you to everyone who (for some reason) is still reading this fic, even if I'm complete shit at updating. I've just had tons of shit to deal with and for some reason this chapter just didn't want to be written. Also, I come bearing porn! sorta. I personally thought what Supernatural did with Becky's character was shitty, so I'm including her more and more in my story. I also thought they wrote her not quite fangirly, so I made her a bit less crazy and a bit more tumblr. Any questions, please send 'em to me. Also, as a way of asking for forgiveness for the lack of updates, if you guys have any requests, or want expansion on any events I mentioned in this or other chapters, I'll try my very best to write them for you. Just send 'em my way, my tumblr is:
> 
> pieandangelwings.tumblr.com


	10. In Which There are Two Sides to Every Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you're looking for the new chapter, it's been inserted before this one :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And a little game for anyone who cares: try and guess; which morning is Cas having, and which morning is Dean's? ...and, I guess, tell me which one you think it is in the comments. Or something. I dunno man, it's your life, do what you want.

The world reached absolute perfection on a Saturday, of course.

Good things had a history of happening on Saturdays.

He woke to a bright, sunny, crisp morning. Birds chirped in the trees, and it smelled like springtime. He sighed into his warm bed covers, relishing the feeling of contentment in the air, then got out of bed and began to dress.

That afternoon his friends had organized a little get-together in the park. Jo and Anna wanted a picnic, and he was more than happy to attend. After deliberating for a minute, he donned a very comfortable shirt that complimented his eyes and hummed his way downstairs, where he could smell the wafting, wonderful aroma of a homemade breakfast waiting for him.

He knew the day would be wonderful when he was presented with a plate of fresh bacon and a hot cup of coffee. His brother was being annoying, as was to be expected, and at the time he might have really wanted to kill him, but reflecting back upon the moment, he could only remember a brotherly fondness for him. He ate quickly, then watched a hilarious television show.

When the time came to meet his friends at the park, he said goodbye to his wonderful, amazing family and grabbed his favorite jacket, noticing in the mirror that he looked particularly handsome that day.

He grabbed the keys to his car and stepped out into the afternoon air, a feeling of contentment washing over him as he began the leisurely drive to the park, basking in the natural beauty of Sioux Falls and humming along to his favorite music.

Looking back, he should have known it would be the best day of his entire month.

————————

The world decided to punch him in the face on a Saturday, which was just typical.

Everyone knew Saturday was the worst day of the week.

He woke to an annoyingly bright morning. Crows squawked in the trees irritatingly and the smell of musk and mold floated in the air. He groaned and reluctantly rose from bed, sensing the feeling of unpleasantness in the air, then crossed the room to his collection of awful clothing.

That afternoon his so-called ‘friends’ had decided to have a picnic in a pathetic little square of grass frequently inhabited by annoying toddlers and amateur drug dealers. Jo and Anna had planned the little outing, and he thought it was a bad idea from the start. After spending a ridiculous amount of time on the mundane task of picking a piece of cloth to cover his body, and stupidly deciding on one that matched the ugly color of his eyes, he walked down the stairs and sniffed at the smell of burnt toast in the air with disgust.

He should’ve known the day would be crap when he was given some burnt toast and a cup of lukewarm coffee with a side of some stringy, meat-like substance as a pathetic excuse for breakfast. His brother was being aggravating, no surprise there. That morning he had regarded it with fondness, not really minding, but later he would remember what an absolute nuisance it was and how much he had prayed to be killed rather than listen to a second more of his stupidity. He ate, then was forced to watch an idiotic show on television that he had always hated.

Finally, it was time to leave for the aforementioned dirty, pathetic excuse for a park, so he said goodbye to his aggravating family and put on his jacket, checking his reflection only to see how terrible he looked; all stupid hair, blotchy skin and misshapen eyes.

He got the keys to his car and reluctantly walked outside into the annoyingly bright sunlight that made him squint in discomfort. The air was heavy with unpleasantness as he drove down the decrepit streets of Sioux Falls, hating every song that played the entire ride there.

He should have realized, after a morning so dreary, that the day was doomed from the start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah, I don't know what I'm doing with my life either.


	11. In Which There is a Picnic and Things Go To Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The infamous picnic day.

The day started out innocent enough; Anna and Jo had arranged a ‘family outing’, which consisted of a picnic in a local park with all of their friends. Though to call their friends a family was a stretch; if it was a family, it was a horribly, explosively dysfunctional one made of at least two incestuous relationships at any given time. But Dean was not about to invoke Jo’s wrath and argue with her on that one. 

The girls had apparently all convened at Kali’s house the night before as a “girl bonding session” (Anna’s description). The boys all had their theories for what it really was, however. ( _Dean - half-naked pillow fights; Cas - monthly meeting to discuss how they planned to take over the world; Ash - half-naked pillow fights; Balthazar - sweaty orgy and sexuality exploration; Chuck - sweaty orgy and sexuality exploration; Gabe - half-naked wrestling matches in nutella and chocolate syrup_ ) Since all the girls arrived at the same time, they set up the picnic; laying out huge blankets and unpacking the games and sport equipment, setting up the iPod and speakers, and, of course, laying out the food.

Then, Dean assumed, at some point Gabe and Balthazar had arrived, then Chuck and Ash, in some order, and finally, Dean himself pulled into the small parking lot just as Cas was getting out of his car, a tiny eco-friendly sliver of a thing that Cas liked to drive as little as possible, most of the time hitching a ride with someone else or biking, to save energy and the planet or whatever.

“Hey, man.” Dean smiled, lowering his sunglasses over his eyes and grabbing his six-pack out of the backseat. 

Cas gave him a small smile as he locked his door. “Dean. I was worried you might not show up.”

“Aw, I’m flattered, Novak.” And yeah, okay, maybe he actually was.

“Don’t be.” Well then. Dean’s face fell and Cas smirked at him. “I’ve had a very trying morning, and more hours of being subjected to my brother’s so-called ‘humor’ would have been too much to handle without my best friend.”

And there Dean’s stupid heart went, beating faster (the traitor). And yeah, he was totally blaming the blush creeping through his cheeks on the sun.  He started walking towards the girl’s picnic setup.”Was he practicing his impressions again?”

“And I’m pretty sure he might have blown up a raccoon ” Dean’s eyes widened and Cas shook his head slowly. “He said something about ‘poetic justice’ and, just, please… don’t ask.”

“Fair enough.” Dean aid, just a bit freaked out, and then continued. “Sammy was being annoying as shit this morning too. Apparently he’s got seven different projects due the beginning of this week, and is flipping a bitch. I keep telling him to drop some extra currics, but oh-no, that’s out of the question. I mean, I love the kid, but he seriously needs to calm the fuck down.” 

“Agreed. Maybe-” Cas had to stumble a bit to avoid being hit with a branch of one of the trees surrounding the park. “Maybe I’ll talk to him. Help him out a bit with prioritizing and deadline management.”

Dean beamed at him. “You’re the best, Cas.” 

Cas’ steps faltered a bit, as Dean’s smiles tended to throw his world a bit off-balance for a second. He stopped, and realized Dean was at least fifty feet ahead of him by the time he move again, then stooped down and untied and retied his shoelace, eager for an excuse for his delay.

At last, they reached the picnic spot the girls had chosen (which they had apparently chosen because it was as far away from the parking lot  _humanly possible_ ) and greeted the group gathered there. Anna and Jo were, as usual, sitting exceptionally close together and whispering to each other, though Jo was sort of half- splayed across Balthazar while Anna sat next to him, braiding Jo’s hair. Balthazar, true to form, was wearing obnoxiously douchey aviators and a low v-neck, complete with his dogtag necklace. Though there were usually two dogtags on the chain… Dean glanced down and, sure enough, saw the second dogtag hanging from a chain around Jo’s neck. He raised an eyebrow at it and she just stuck her tongue out at him. Dean gave her a quick thumbs up, then remembered who, exactly, had given her the necklace. He was going to to have a very serious, potentially violent conversation with Balthazar some time in the future. 

Next to Balthazar was Bela, looking exceptionally bored, passing the time by going through Balthazar’s wallet, which Dean was willing to bet she had taken without his permission. Meg was next to her, picking at her nails, and very obviously taking advantage of the warm, almost-spring weather in shorts (in the loosest definition of the word; belt would probably be more appropriate) and an almost skin tight black AC/DC shirt.  _SHE DOESN’T DESERVE TO BE WEARING THAT SHIRT STUPID SKANKFACE- It’s fine. Whatever. It’s just a shirt._  But it wasn’t. _I won’t be angry. I’m calm._ But he wasn’t. 

Finally, at Meg’s side was Kali, lying in the grass in a flowing red dress, using Gabe’s teal trenchcoat as a pillow. Gabe was sitting across the blanket from her, and seemed to be massaging her feet.

“Ladies,” Dean grinned, flopping down next to Bela and kissing her.

She hummed into the kiss and when they pulled apart was wearing a grin just as mischievous as his. “Mm, he- _llo_ gentleman.”

“Anna, Jo.” He nodded to both girls. “How was your slumber party?”

“Oh, the usual.” Lisa said, raising her soda can to her lips. “Drunken orgy and hours of pillow fights, mud wresting, and intense massages.”

Kali laughed, and sat up from where she was lying in the grass. “You forgot the practice kissing.” 

Lisa lowered her sunglasses to the bridge of her nose to smirk back. “That’s because none of us need practice.”

As if to demonstrate, Kali laughed and leaned in to kiss Lisa. It wasn’t particularly passionate or intense, but the kiss lasted several seconds until they pulled apart slowly, and both girls giggled.

Everyone around them was silent. Gabe coughed and said, “ _Damn_. Kal, can we keep  _her_?”

Lisa just smirked and Kali flopped back down on the grass. “Platonic kissing,  _bitches_!” Kali cried, before she and Lisa did a triumphant fist-bump.

Anna and Jo laughed at their friends antics, and Chuck was looking a little flushed as he took a huge gulp of water. 

 ”Morning.” Cas said when he finally reached the picnic spot, sitting down next to Meg and kissing her softly on the cheek. She didn’t look at him, just gave him a small smile as he did.

“Well, now that the rest of our band of merry men have arrived,” Anna said, standing up, “I would like to welcome you all to the first annual hunger games!”

Gabe raised his hand, and Anna pointed at him. “Gabriel Novak, you have a question for the capitol?”

“Um, yeah, Miss Twinkle, does this mean I’m allowed to kill Dean?”

Dean glared and threw a plastic fork at Gabe. Anna eyed them both with disdain. “It’s  _Trinket_ , my dear twin. Miss _Trinket_. And no. These are the hunger games in the way that we’re hungry, and there will be games. But no killing.”

“But-“

“Ah-ah! No killing. And that’s final.” Jo, Kali, and Lisa saluted Anna with three fingers, and she beamed.

“ _Fine._ ” Gabe grumbled, crossing his arms in a pout.

In a flash, Gabe’s pout disappeared and his eyes widened. He let out a low whistle. “All female-body-appreciating entities would do well do look over there.” He pointed to about fifty feet away, and Dean turned around to look. A blonde with aviators was walking in their direction, with a pixie cut and shorts barely covering impossibly long legs. 

Dean was only human, after all, so he let his eyes rake over her smooth legs, tiny waist, and low cut tank top. “ _Damn._ ”

Balthazar hummed in agreement, and to Dean’s confusion, Jo just smiled at him. In fact- all the girls were smiling. Well, except Meg, but that was to be expected. Kali and Anna exchanged a stealthy fist bump, and Bela whispered ‘told you’. 

“Um, Anna, shouldn’t you be lecturing us on respecting women or something?” Dean asked cautiously, but the redhead just beamed at him.

“I’m just happy you can finally recognise beauty when you see it.” 

Dean was really and truly confused, but before he had the chance to ask Anna what she meant by that, Gabe started to panic.

“Um, guys,  _she’s coming over here_!” He stage-whispered, and Dean whipped his head around and saw that the blonde, who was a bit shorter than she appeared from far away, was indeed only about eight feet from them.

“He- _llo_  foxy lady. ” Kali grinned, winking at the blonde, who smiled shyly at all of them with perfect straight white teeth.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know who you are or why you’re here, but if I was a single man, you and I would be having some fun tonight.” Gabe said, leering at the girl.

The girl smiled, and then spoke. “Aw, it’s okay. You guys are like my otp anyway.”

Dean’s jaw dropped. “ _Becky_?!”

The blonde laughed, and took off her sunglasses. “in the flesh.”

“And lots of it.” Gabe whispered reverently, his eyes wide and jaw dropped.

“You men are all idiots, you know that? I could see not recognizing her from afar, but she was  _literally_  right in front of you.” Meg scoffed while ripping open a bag of chips.

“Becky- wow, I mean, you got your braces off. And got legs. When did you get legs?” Chuck stuttered, then Becky winked at him, and his entire face went red.

Anna stood up and gave the tiny blonde a hug, then draped a crown of flowers over her chopped hair. (And Dean wondered, for just a second, where the hell Anna got a fucking _crown of flowers_  when the nearest patch of flower-like weeds was at least a hundred feet away from their picnic spot) “When Bex told me she was getting the gear off, I knew it was time for a kick-ass makeover. Didn’t you guys know Kali has a cousin who’s a hairdresser? He lives like an hour away, so we made a special trip.”

“Hence, slumber party.” Kali grinned, as Anna grabbed Becky by the hand and dragged her over to sit between her and Lisa.

“I did her makeup.” Lisa beamed, kissing Becky on the cheek.

“And I got her some clothes that actually  _fit_ , and showed off the sex-goddess we always knew she was.” Bela grinned, and Dean slowly held up a silent, awed hand for a high-five, which Bela triumphantly accepted.

“And viola!” Jo cried, a huge smile on her face. “I present Becky Rosen, our Bex, as the beautiful, ass-kicking, awesome queen of tumblr and of our hearts.” 

Becky smiled sheepishly and waved and the boys. “Don’t get too used to it, I’m still spending half my money on redbubble and teefury; the fandom shirts are forever.”

Dean winked at her. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.” 

“Becky, you look lovely.” Cas smiled, reaching over to softly grab her hand and raise it to his lips, kissing it softly. “Though you’ve always been beautiful.”

“Okay, that’s enough, Casanova.” Meg pushed Cas away from Becky with one hand.

“Thank you, Cas.” Becky beamed at him. 

“Wow, Becky, you- wow.” Chuck stuttered, twisting his napkin in his hands.

Becky gave him a side glance and said, “I know.” Then turned away from him, ignoring his presence completely. Kali and Anna noticed this and fist-bumped again.

Balthazar winked at the blonde and gave her two thumbs up, and Dean gave her his best ‘how-you-doin’?’ smirk. Ash was the only guy not looking at her, he was staring at the plaid picnic blanket with as much determination as he usually directed towards computer programming.

“This is the best day  _ever._ ” Anna giggled, and Becky pressed light fingers to her crown of flowers and smiled.

————————

The day started out with boys vs. girls ultimate Frisbee  which slowly turned into really aggressive, angry Frisbee with far too much tackling. Dean probably tore something from laughing so hard when Jo took down Balthazar. Jo’s a tiny blonde who doesn’t weigh much, so people who didn’t spend parts of their childhood being force-fed mud or tied to a tree by the girl tend to underestimate how strong she is. So it wasn’t entirely unexpected for Balthazar to catch the Frisbee and, at least five inches taller than Jo, smirk and say ‘come and get me, pretty eyes’. But the look of pure terror and shock on his face when Jo charged him and took him to the ground without breaking a sweat was  _priceless_. And the fact that he had the wind completely knocked out of him was just the icing on the cake. Dean, being a good teammate, walked over and held out a hand to the other boy, which Balthazar, wheezing, accepted.

“For fuck’s-(wheeze)- sake.” 

“Dude, never challenge Jo. In anything. Ever ” Dean said, patting Balthazar on the back. “Believe me, I speak from experience when I say she’ll fucking _destroy you_.” 

He turned his head to turn to where his pseudo sister was letting Anna place a crown of daisies around her head. She still had a fierce, threatening expression on her face and reminded Dean of a viking queen, which was frankly a terrifying parallel  Her eyes narrowed when she saw the two of them watching her, and she slid a swift finger across her throat. Dean and Balthazar both gave sharp intakes of breath.

“Good luck, dude.” Dean muttered, and Balthazar just nodded slowly.

————————

After they were all sufficiently tired from half an hour of Frisbee and then an impromptu recreation of the Harlem Shake, which Cas determinedly refused to take part in, the group moved back to the huge picnic area, and the boys started passing out and serving the food.

“We made it, the least you could do is put it on plates.” Kali said, while Anna adjusted her new flower crown.

“Well, technically, Bela, Lisa, Jo and Kalikins made it.” Anna said, grinning. “Meg, Bex and I just stood around and looked pretty.”

“I’m sure that was easy for you.” Cas whispered into Meg’s ear. She gave a nervous half laugh and looked away from him.

“Hey, I helped. A little.” Becky protested softly. 

“Yeah, by reading teen-wolf inspired recipes off tumblr.” Lisa laughed, ruffling the blonde’s pixie-cut.

Jo griined.”Don’t forget the Sherlock updates every few seconds. Those were  _crucial_.”

“Joanna Beth, did I ask for your sass?” Becky said with a stern face, moving swiftly across the blanket to tickle Jo’s sides. Jo tried to fight back, but Beck tackled her to the ground, shouting “I’m the real!”. Jo laughed in response, and the two blondes rolled around, laughing and tickling each other.

Gabe and Balthazar watched this with wide eyes, then exchanged a slow, reverent, fist-bump.

————————

Dean should’ve seen it coming. As the sun came out, Jo took off her sweater to reveal a skin tight tank top, Balthazar took off his shirt altogether, and Bela pulled off the yoga pants she had been wearing to reveal tight red shorts. So really, it was only a matter of time. He just wished he had seen the signs. Then, maybe he could’ve escaped. Feigned an injury, or something. But he hadn’t, so there he was. Stuck.

Gabriel spun the bottle with a grin. “Who will it be, who will it be?”

It slowed to a stop on Jo, and Dean let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding. He leaned over and kissed Jo on the cheek. Gabriel boo-ed, and Jo flipped him off. “Get over yourself, Novak. He’s like my brother.”

Dean smiled at her gratefully, then thanked whatever holy being was apparently watching over him, because Cas had been sitting next to Jo, and the bottle was this close to destroying every single tiny shred of denial Dean was still clinging to.

“Spin it again!” Anna chirped, clapping her hands together. She’s made flower crowns for everyone in the circle by this point (all fake of course, they found out pretty earl on that she brought a basket full of flower crown supplies because Anna’s just like that sometimes) and was attempting to weave as many flowers into her hair as humanly possible.

“Ooh yes,” Balthazar said dryly. “I’m ever so excited to continue with this.”

“Shush, spoil sport.” Gabriel tutted, then turned to place the glass bottle (that Dean is positive Gabe brought just for this game, because where the hell do you even  _get_  glass bottles anymore) delicately in Kali’s hands. “Your turn to spin, babe. For victims one and two.” He winks at her, and she grinned.

She spun it quickly, and it came to a slow stop in front of Cas, who groaned and looked at Dean, a pleading panic in his eyes. Dean smirked and gave him a ‘what’re you gonna do’ shrug. Cas gave him a look that clearly says (in about seven different languages) ‘yeah, thanks for the help, jackass’.

“Ooh, yes, Cassie’s gonna get some action,” Gabriel said, then practically leers at Meg. “Not that he doesn’t get any already, thank you Megs.”

Meg glared at him like she’d like very much to light him on fire. “Kali, spin the damn bottle.”

Kali grinned, and Dean realized in a flash why exactly she and Gabe work so well together, when you’d never expect them to. She’s a gorgeous, dark-skinned goddess, and he’s a pasty hobbit; honestly, she’s got, like, a foot on him. She dresses with class, all vintage dresses and elegant hats, and he dresses like a hipster mime on LSD. But despite their differences, they’re both manipulative, lying, often cruel, sneaky little fuckers. Kali grinned at Dean, and in that second, Dean knew he was really and truly  _screwed_.

The bottle spun, and Dean held his breath, afraid to move, wondering if it’s too late to run. The group watches as it spins, slows, and stops.

Pointing directly between Meg and Dean.

Son of a _bitch_.

Kali frowned at the bottle, and Gabe examined her out of the corner of his eye, definitely picking up on what she was trying to do. Unfortunately, much as he’d love fucking with Dean, he knows Cas doesn’t need any more screwing with his brain.

“Well, well, well.” Gabe eyed the bottle. “All right Cas, no one wants to see you and Dean-o swap spit, just kiss your girlfriend.”

Cas gave him a look of pure relief before Bela piped up. “I dunno Gabe, I think I’d kinda like to see that.” She glanced at Lisa, who tried to give her a look of _bela-for-the-love-of-god-don’t-fucking-go-there-THESE-MORONS-HAVE-A-HISTORY._  Bela ignored the glance, and continued. “Like, a lot. Like, that would be really hot.”

Becky, sitting next to Lisa, nodded, pointing at Bela like she said something truly profound.

Gabe shook his head, glancing at Cas’ near-terrified expression. “It’s closer to Meg, anyway.”

“It’s, like, directly in the middle, man.” Ash said, half-paying attention.

“Just let him kiss his girlfriend, guys. It’s not a big deal.” Lisa said, acting as nonchalant as possible.

“I’d… rather kiss Meg, if that’s alright with everyone.” Cas said in a quiet voice, staring a hole through the ground.

Dean tried not to be offended or let down. He really, really did.

“This is boring, and although I agree that Cas and Dean kissing would be seven different kinds of hot,” Balthazar paused to give significant glances to both boys. “I say let our boy kiss who he wants, and then we move on so we can finish this game.”

Cas smiled and turns to Meg slowly, a small smile on his face.

“No, Cas, just kiss Dean.”

It took Dean a moment to figure out where the voice came from, because there’s no way- but everyone else was looking at her too, and Cas most of all had a dumbfounded expression on his face. Meg just stared him down, unashamed.

“Meg?” Cas said slowly. “You… want me to kiss Dean?”

She nodded determinedly.

“Or you don’t want me to kiss you.” He said in a low voice, and suddenly the game took a turn for the awkward.

“Yeah I think I’d prefer that.” Meg said, eyes refusing to meet his.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what I did…” Cas said in a vaguely panicked voice, looking at Anna and Jo for help, but their expressions are just as confused as his. 

“You didn’t do anything, Cas. Just, I don’t wanna kiss you, okay?” Meg muttered, picking at her shirt. 

“But… we’re dating. We’ve kissed before.” Cas looked a little panicked, and the rest of their friends tried their best to look like they weren’t listening on the conversation, when they were actually hanging on every word.

Meg shrugged, then grinned, though it seemed a little forced. “Hey, Cas, let’s talk about this later, kay? Sometime when it’s not in front of everyone we know?” She patted him on the arm in a somewhat comforting gesture, and his eyes narrowed.

“No, I think we should talk about this now. Why won’t you let me kiss you? We’re dating, after all-”

“Well maybe I don’t want to be dating you anymore, sport.” Meg said, giving him a pat on the shoulder.

Cas froze, as did everyone else. “What?”

“Look, angel.” Meg smirked at him, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “This has been a fun few months, the presents you got me were great, but let’s face it; we’re not in it for the long run. Besides, I’ve got another guy on the side. Figure I might try him out for a bit, he does  _killer_  things with his tongue.”

The silence is deafening. When Dean managed to pull his eyes away from Cas’ shocked and hurt expression, he saw that everyone but three were watching Cas with pity in their eyes. The three that aren’t, Anna, Jo and Gabe, glare at Meg like they’d like to rip her lungs out. Dean wishes he was a little closer to Anna, because he’s worried she might actually tackle Meg to the ground and do something extremely violent. But then again, he’s not so sure he’d actually stop her.

He eventually focuses on the crown of flowers in Cas’ hair, soft blue ones ‘to match his eyes’. Meg’s got a crown of marigolds in hers, and they seem so out of place in this scene of aggression and uncomfortable silence.

Cas grumbled out a “Fine. Then this,” He gestured between them. “Is over. That’s fine.”

The picnic ends pretty quickly after that.

————————

Meg isn’t cheating on Cas. 

Meg has never cheated on Cas.

Meg might be more than a little in love with Cas.

Unfortunately, Ruby and Kali are the only ones that know this.

Kali explained the entire thing to Gabriel as they hid in his car in the dark parking lot (waiting for the right opportunity to slash the tires, key the paint job, and spray paint the windows of the asshole that made a pass at Kali days before, and told her her boyfriend wasn’t a real man) and it was mostly to dissuade him from reporting some of Meg’s more offensive transgressions to their principal, which would definitely result in her expulsion.

“I’m sorry, but breaking up with him, on picnic day, in front of all our friends, in the middle of  _spin the fucking bottle_  is pretty much the dickest of all the moves.” Gabriel huffed, adjusting himself so the gearshift wasn’t digging into his spine.

“Yeah, okay. I’ll give you that.” Kali muttered from the backseat. “Her timing should be stabbed in the face with a fork, but she… she got some news.”

“News?” Gabe turned to glance into the dark backseat. “Shit, is she pregnant?”

“God no.”

“Herpes?”

“Not that we know of.” Kali said, after a minute of considering it.

“Any other STDs that she’d give to my baby brother?”

“Nope.”

“Then what the fuck? I thought you said she didn’t cheat on him!” He cried, before they heard the unmistakable crunching of boots on gravel, and both fell silent.

After the walking passed, Kali hissed, “She didn’t! Meg likes to sleep around, but she’s pretty damn loyal. She wouldn’t do that.”

“So it was just cruel for the sake of being cruel. Consider one anonymous tip concerning her drug usage sent to the administration office.” Gabe scoffed, kicking a bit at the car door.

“No, don’t-” Kali trailed off, and then sighed, defeated. “Meg got into Tulane.”

“Is that a strip club?” Gabe said, after a beat, and Kali leaned across the seats to punch him in the arm.

“It’s a college in Louisiana, asshole.”

“So?”

“So,” Kali sighed and glanced at her boyfriend. “She’s going. She’s moving to Lousiana, which is practically across the country. Cas still has another year of highschool, and she doesn’t want to deal with trying to make things work long distance. Besides, anyone with eyes knows Cas is just in that relationship for the convenience of it.” Kali paused and thought for a second. “Okay, everyone except Cas and Dean. But she thinks he’s gonna break up with her and use the distance as an excuse anyway, and I guess she just wanted to get it over with, you know? Deal with all the heartbreak _before_  she moves twenty states away and starts a new life.”

“Heartbreak.” Gabriel scoffed, but his tone was softer. “Meg doesn’t have a heart.”

“Yeah, that’s what everyone thinks.” Kali reached through the darkness and grabbed Gabriel’s hand, rubbing her thumb slowly against his palm. “And right now, I really wish it were true.”

————————

Across town, Cas was sitting on Dean’s couch, stiff as a board. Dean was in Bobby’s kitchen, and Cas sincerely wished he had the power to make him combust with only his mind. His best friend had apparently made it his life’s mission to cheer Cas up after his break-up with Meg, but all Cas wanted was some peace and quiet. And maybe a shotgun.

“Sammy’s at a friends house, studying for… I dunno, some nerd shit, so we can sneak some tea from his old lady cupboard. We have chai, green, something that’s either a pear or a fetus, and-” Dean picked up a tea package and examined it. “…dwarvejelly.”

“It’s pronounced Darjeeling.” Cas growled, because the tea really wasn’t necessary and the only reason he was in the house was so he didn’t have to deal with his siblings and cousins; not to mention the fact that hearing Dean butcher the name is almost physically painful.

“Whatever, like it’s a real word. You know what, nope, I don’t trust things with too many vowels; I’m not making that shit.” Dean stopped, and stuttered. “Unless you want some, I can make you some if you want.”

“I don’t want your tea.” Cas grumbled, shifting in his seat.

“Okay, well we got oatmeal, cereal, ice cream, even some-” Deans voice faltered a bit, but he continued. “Some left-over pie, if you want it.”

Cas sighed frustratedly. It was hard to be irritated at your best friend when they were offering you the one thing they truly loved in the world, just to get you to try and cheer you up. “It’s fine. I’m not hungry. Can we just watch the movie and be done with it?”

“Sure, man.” Dean closed the refrigerator and walked into the living room, grabbing a blanket from the armchair and tossing it on Cas. “In case you’re cold. Which, if you are, I can get a fire started, or turn on the heater-“

“Dean!” Cas cried, glaring at the other boy, who froze. “I’m not an infant. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

Dean blushed, and ran a hand through his hair uncomfortably. “Yeah, dude, I know. Just- breakups suck, and I know it’s painful now, but a big helping of warm blankets, pretentious-ass tea and Galaxy Quest is a cure for  _everything_.” He smirked at Cas cheerfully.

Cas glared at him. “If I punch you in the face, will a blanket fix your broken nose?”

“Well, no, but-“

“Then shut the fuck up.” Cas growled, rolled his eyes, and threw the blanket across himself, glaring at Dean as he leaned back against the couch.

Dean smiled at him. “Fine.” He flopped down on the couch and pressed his nose to Cas’ with a lazy smile. Cas huffed and glared at him from under the fuzzy material that separated them.

“Stop it.”

“Not until you smile.” Dean said, rubbing his nose against Cas’.

Cas expression shifted, and he couldn’t help it; the left side of his mouth quirked into a smile. Dean laughed and punched the air, shouting ‘victory!’ and moving away from him, while Cas pretended he didn’t miss the warmth of the other boy’s breath on his face.

“I hate you. A lot.” Cas grumbled, letting Dean nuzzle into his side.

Dean just let out a barking laugh. “Dude, you always say that. Just play the damn movie. But, you know, not too loud. Bobby’s sleeping.”

To which Cas let out an exasperated sigh, but leaned over and clicked the play button on his friend’s laptop. A few minutes passed before Cas said “You said something about making me tea?”

There was a second of silence. “Yeah, but it turns  out it’s not actually a cure for a broken heart. So I guess there’s no point in me making it.”

“My heart isn’t broken. It’s just… mildly injured. Like someone punched it in the face. Which, incidentally, is what I may very well do-“

Dean cut him off with a laughing  “Calm down, drama queen. I’ll get your damn tea. And hey, I’m so nice I’ll even get you your favorite mug.”

Cas glanced at him and raised a condescending eyebrow. “I have no favorites among your kitchenware. That would be idiotic. They’re just mugs.” He scoffed, pulling the blanket away from Dean slowly but purposefully.

“Fine then, the mug that’s your favorite color, asshat.” Dean said, pausing Alan Rickman’s rant for the time being.

“My favorite color?” Cas said, tilting his head in confusion.

“Yeah, you know.” Dean gestured absently with his hands. “It’s like green and freckly gold and shit.”

“Oh.” Cas’ face shifted, and a slight blush slid onto his cheeks. “Yes, that one. I remember.”

Dean nodded and ruffled the other boy’s hair. As Dean went to make the tea, Cas reflected on the days events with annoyance. In his eyes, it all started with the toast. Burnt toast was enough to ruin anyone’s good day, but the added bonus of Gabriel singing along to Rebecca Black just cemented the awfulness. And then the picnic, where he was attacked by surely thousand of mosquitoes and, knowing today’s luck, probably got malaria. And Meg- well, he didn’t want to think about her at all. It was one of the worst days he’d had in a long time. And- goddammit, was Dean _whistling_? Cas tucked himself lower beneath the blankets, making a mental note to run for the presidency in his adulthood, so he could outlaw being happy when someone else was feeling like crap.

When Dean emerged from the kitchen, carrying two mugs of steaming liquid (black coffee for him, Darjeeling for Cas), a grin was spreading through his freckled features. “One drarawrjivevli for his grumpiness.” He said in a sing-song voice.

“Are you stoned?” Cas grumbled, sitting up a bit and accepting the tea with careful hands; Dean had a tendency to make things ridiculously hot.

“High on life, dude, high on life.” Dean smiled and sat down next to his friend.

“Well I’m glad. One of us should be enjoying this ridiculous existence we call living.” Cas growled, taking a long sip of his (fucking  _scalding_ ) tea.

Dean didn’t respond for a second, sitting quietly as Cas burned off half of his taste-buds, then sent Dean a piercing glare and considered dumping the contents of the mug on Dean’s crotch.

“I’m sorry she did that to you, man.” Dean sighed, placing his mug on the coffee table so he could lean against Cas’ side. “But you are a million times too good for her.”

Cas glanced at the older boy laying half on top of him, then at the spaces where their bodies met; torsos, waists, legs, arms, in fact, there were far less areas where they weren’t touching. He sighed. “I’m not sure that’s true.”

“Shut the fuck up.” Dean said, more aggressively than Cas expected, and moved so his face was directly in front of Cas’. “You’re awesome, and like, a fucking  _genius_ , and the best friend in the universe. You’re objectively attractive- not that, you know, I’ve been looking, but like, Jo says you’re hot, and your eyes-” Dean coughed, and Cas grinned at him. “Well, anyway. You’re fucking awesome, and if Meg doesn’t see that, sucks to be her.” He said, with an air of finality, then leaned over and restarted the movie.

After a couple of seconds, Cas chuckled. “You think I’m attractive.”

“Shut your face, Novak.” Dean growled, and Cas’ chuckling got louder. “I was being supportive, asshole.” Dean muttered, unconsciously shuffling closer into Cas’s side.

Cas smiled at the movement, and relaxed, letting his head fall against the softness of the old, well-loved sofa. As he sipped his still-too-hot tea he broke into a smile, though he was careful to hide it from Dean, who was busy chuckling at Tim Allen’s drunken antics.

 _Okay, fine._  He thought, a soft smile playing across his face.  _Maybe this day didn’t turn out a complete disaster, after all._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So in case you didn't notice, in the teaser chapter I posted a few months ago, the side of the spectrum where things are shitty is Cas'. (but I think he cheers up by the end, don't you?). 
> 
> Also, in case it wasn't blatantly obvious, I think Becky is awesome and deserves to be the center of attention. But she shant compromise any of her values or loves just so boys will find her attractive, oh no. 
> 
> And I apparently made Anna into Jehan in this chapter, too, but I think it works. She is an artist, after all.   
> (in these past few months I have read FAR too many les amis fics but I refuse to be sorry for that)
> 
> And lastly, I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter, so let me know what you guys think, because I may end up rewriting bits of it.
> 
> As always, your comments are treasured in the deepest recesses of my heart.


	12. In Which Anna Watches Disney Channel and Starts a Revolution

It all started on a warm May evening.

Since Cas and Meg's breakup, everyone had seen a little less of Meg. She started hanging out with some of the 'rebels' of the school (as rebellious as kids who lived in South Dakota could get, at least) and had taken Bela with her, after Dean ended their relationship. Not that, you know, Cas breaking up with Meg had anything to do with that. Just... Dean and Bela, they wanted different things, and just weren't compatible, and... shut up.

Speaking of Dean and Cas, neither of them were exactly sad singles. In fact, post-breakup, they were happier than ever, though neither one would ever say that out loud. They spent almost every second together; marathoning movies and television shows, doing their homework side-by-side, hiking on the weekends (okay, yeah, usually they took Sam with them, when he could be convinced to take a break from studying), anything they could think of, even the occasionally illegal activities.

No matter what they did, every weekend started the same: Dean drove Sam home, helped Bobby with whatever chores he had, then drove to Cas' house and climbed in through his window. Sometimes he'd climb in on weeknights, and he did so often enough that Cas didn't even bother locking it, or even closing it, most nights. Soon after, they'd usually sneak out together the exact same way. Sneaking back in was always a  _tad_ more difficult, because as soon as Anna found out they used the window she started locking it after they left. She was a terrible human being like that.

Dean lifted himself through the window with a grin, then turned around to beckon Cas through. "Dude, we don't have all night."

Cas glared at him and lifted himself through the window with a lot more grace and stealth than Dean had, however, when his feet touched down on the floor, he stumbled, just the slightest, but Dean reached out to catch him anyway.

"Easy there-" Dean said, pulling Cas towards him (to keep him from falling back, obviously) and freezing as he realized exactly how close he was pulling Cas. He gulped and glanced at his best friend's mouth, which was just a few measely inches away from his own.

Oh yeah. That was another thing. Ever since Meg stomped Cas' heart into the dirt, things had every so often been... weird between them, to say the least. Whenever they got too close to eachother, there was always something in the space between them, something foreign and overwhelming (a  _blind_ man could've told you it was sexual tension, but Cas and Dean were their own special kind of oblivious) They were both terrified of taking the next step, of, as Gabriel might put it (and had) 'just fucking kissing and getting over themselves, jesus christ'. However, that wasn't to say they weren't comfortable with each other, just the opposite in fact. Both Anna and Sam had extensive photo albums saved on their phones of pictures of Cas and Dean asleep in each other's arms (in case they ever needed blackmail), and you could count on one hand the number of days that passed without Cas and Dean seeing each other. On one historic day, Cas was even taught how to drive the Impala. When Sam found out, he asked Anna to start designing the wedding invitations, because 'god knows Dean has no taste when it comes to these things'.

Even the town sheriff (Jody Mills, an old friend of Bobby's) thought they were dating. Her suspicions began when one of her officers tried to put them in different police cars after the Strison incident (which, much to Dean's glee, they had never been able to prove was Dean and Cas' fault, though anyone with some sense knew that it was), and a couple minutes later the officer was almost in tears and feebly letting Cas join Dean in the squad car, because as capable of a fighter as Cas was, his real talent lied in verbal abuse. From that day on, Jody didn't even  _try_ to separate the boys, and if no real damage was done, for the most part didn't bother arresting them either. And, in the end, all it took was Michael making a generous donation to the sheriff's office and paying for all damages the two of them had done to get their criminal records 'lost'. It's not like they did anything  _that_ illegal, anyway.

But the point is, Cas and Dean did practically everything together. But they had yet to take their relationship into uncharted territory, and that was why both boys froze upon realizing exactly how close they had come to kissing, and especially when they realized that option was still available. After a few seconds of gazing somewhat whistfully into Cas's eyes, Dean mentally shook himself and released his friend.

"Very graceful, Cas." He laughed and ran his hand through his hair uncomfortably.

Cas' eyes narrowed. "Like a swan, Winchester, and don't ever forget it."

Dean laughed at Cas' remark, and just like that, the tension passed. "So, whadya got for food around here?"

Cas rolled his eyes. "You know, if my family didn't have a frankly unnecessary amount of money, I'd say you were eating us out of house and home."

"Well, seeing as you do, I like to think of eating all your food as a service to society." Dean said with a grin, before moving towards Cas' bedroom door. He glanced over his shoulder. "Come on then, Novak, we aint got all day."

 

————————

 

The first thing Dean noticed when he reached the bottom stair and living room was the laugh track. It blared through the air obnoxiously, and he immediately started looked around the large room for the source. The next thing was that the t.v. was on, and that some ginger guy with stupid pants (no really, they were like, Gabe-level ridiculous) was falling over himself as some blonde dude and a girl who both looked about twelve watched. Dean looked at Cas in confusion, and in response the other boy just raised an eyebrow and shrugged. He walked quietly into the living room and peeked around the couch; splayed out across it was Anna, eating out of a carton of Ben & Jerry's and surrounded by an enourmous amount of pillows. Dean glanced at the t.v. again, and saw that what she was watching was going to commercial.

"...Anna?" He said slowly, and the redhead lifted her head to meet his eyes. She looked exasperated and not a little pissed off. "...why are you watching Disney Channel?"

She huffed at him, then turned back to the t.v. "I'm trying to forget that the world is run by so-called 'adults' who are nothing more than power-hungry, white-supremacist mysoginistic morons who reject anything different, especially if it comes in the form of other races or sexualities." She spat, taking another spoonful of Cherry Garcia.

Dean looked at the t.v. again, then back at Anna.

"...and you thought the best way of doing that was by watching  _Disney Channel_?" Dean said, incredulous, glancing at Cas, who was sitting down hesitantly next to his sister.

"I'm waiting for this crapfest to be over, 'cause Phineas and Ferb is on next." She grumbled, and both Cas and Dean nodded, because at least that made sense.

Cas inched closer to his sister on the Novak's enourmous leather couch, then sat there quietly. This was what Jo liked to call Cas' "complete and total ineptitude when it comes to comforting people or understanding their feelings". He was a ridiculously agressive cuddler when he was drowing his own sorrows in a mug of earl grey, but when he approached anyone else in a time of need, the most he could manage was an understanding pat on the head. Luckily, Anna knew this, and as soon as her younger brother was close enough, she nuzzled herself into his side (and Dean smiled at the thought that apparently, that was something else the two Novaks had in common) and Cas placed a careful arm around her.

"What's happened Anna? Is it something to do with Josh?" Cas asked, as Dean motioned to him from next to the couch. Cas tilted his head at Dean's movement, and silently mouthed ' _what_?' at his friend. Dean made the motion again, this time more aggressively, and Cas shook his head and mouthed _'I don't understand what you want from me, Dean_ '.

"He's saying you should pet my hair, because I find it relaxing." Anna supplied, burrowing deeper into Cas and the pillow barricade she had created between herself and the outside world.

"Yes! Thank you, Anna!" Dean exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air, before flopping down on the couch next to Cas.

Cas did as suggested, and Anna sighed before speaking again. "It's not Josh. We're fine, even if he spends more time with his team than me, and knowing my luck, is probably harboring homosexual tendencies, just like  _every_ guy I know."

"Hey-" Dean interjected, before Anna sent him a look that silenced his protestations.

"But anyway, it's not my boyfriend. You guys know how I'm president of our schools LGBTQA society?"

Cas nodded and said "Yes, of course." at exactly the same time that Dean said "Really?", which only earned him another condescending glare from Anna.

"Yes, Dean, I am. I have been for some time. All Novaks hold positions of power in the school, pay attention." She scoffed, reaching for more Cherry Garcia, which Cas pushed away with a slight shake of the head.

"You'll thank me for it later." He said simply.

"Damn you for always being right." She said, but with a smile, and wrapped her arms around her little brother like one would a stuffed animal. "Anyway, we've lost our funding to the homemakers alliance, or whatever the fuck the club's called."

"The what?"

Anna sighed angrily. "It's a club that instills in the women of our generation a passion for baking, sewing, being stay-at-home moms, enslaving themselves to a patriarchal existance, the whole package. It's about half a step away from a fucking chastity club." Anna glared at the pillow Cas had placed in his lap for her to lay across. "It's the most sexist club in the school, and our misogynistic vice principal  _adores_ it. And I just came from a meeting with him, where he told me that we've lost our funding, which is small enough as it is, our meeting space, which was given to the chess club, and our sponsor, because Mrs. Treshon is on maternity leave.

"That means that we have  _nothing_. The kids at our school who are gay, or bi, or transgender have nothing. The club won't get recognized, or even a goddamn picture in the yearbook. All over the country gay marriage is being legalized, and this school is just willing to pretend the issue, and everyone it concerns, doesn't exist." Anna took a deep breath. "So I'm going to watch Phineas and Ferb and Girl Code until my brains rot and my body becomes part of the couch, and I neither of you is going to fucking stop me, alright?"

Cas nodded slowly, and handed the ice cream carton to Dean. "There's no chance of you getting the funding back?"

"I had to restrain Ruby from clawing our Fuhrer's eyes out. He's not giving it back." Anna sighed, as Cas stroked her hair and Dean returned the ice cream to the freezer.

"Okay." Cas nodded once, then tilted his head towards the kitchen.  "Dean, get my Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls CD from my bookshelf, please."

"Will do." Dean called from inside the kitchen. "Is it in a box or something or just on one of the levels?"

"It's in the dark blue CD case, next to my watercolour kit." Cas pulled out his phone and began to type slowly.

"Watercolor... so that's third shelf, on the left, yeah?" Dean emerged from the kitchen with an open bag of chips and a Poptart.

"Yes. And if you get Poptart crumbs on the carpet I  _will_ kill you." Cas said, not taking his eyes off his phone.

"Seriously, dude, how do you  _always_ know?" Dean said, shaking his head, before stuffing half a poptart in his mouth, muttering something that was either 'carpet nazi' or 'paparrazi'; it wasn't really clear.

"You're disgusting!" Cas called wearily at Dean's retreating back.

"You love me anyway!" Dean sang back, taking the stairs two at a time.

Anna dug herself deeper into Cas. "God, the two of you are so domestic it gives me punchy feelings."

"Hmm?" Cas said, raising one eyebrow as he typed.

"Nothing. Are you texting your publisher?"

"I don't ha-"

"Sending them the great American novel? No?" Anna sighed exasperatedly. "How is it we have one sibling with no sense of humor, and another with twice as much as is tolerable? Gabe took all the humor mom had when he was born, I'm telling you." She shuddered slightly, thinking of her twin, then continued. "Anyway, who areyou texting? And if you say Dean I will actually throw up on you, lovely soft cardigan or not."

"I'm-" Cas' fingers pressed the keys expertly. "Sending our brothers-" He pressed the screen again, a look of intense concentration on his face. "A little message."

Anna sat up. "The bat signal?"

"Of course."

"You think this warrants that?"

Cas regarded her with an expression that managed to be fond, condescending, and just a tad apologetic. "They're denying students the right to be heard. They deserve our wrath." He stopped for a second, considering, then said, "I've got it typed out. I haven't hit send."

Anna thought for a second, then nodded. "Do it."

Cas gave her a half-smile, and pressed the button on his screen.

Anna grabbed a handful of popcorn. "Those fuckers are going down." She smiled evilly, then snuggled back into Cas as the Phineas and Ferb intro blared through the t.v. speakers.

A couple seconds later they heard Dean's easily recognizeable stomps down the staircase. "Dude, this is Harry Potter music, isn't it?"

"If you insult wrock you're not allowed in this house." Anna grumbled, and Cas shrugged his agreement.

"I burnt it a while ago; it cheers Anna up. Just put it in the sound system." Cas said, before reaching over to grab the remote and turn off the t.v.

"Hey!" Anna protested, faliling a bit against Cas'  side.

"You know if we show Gabriel cartoons we'll never get anything done."

Anna paused. "No really, you need to stop always being right. It's annoying."

The first chords to The Boy Who Lived started playing, and a slight smile appeared on Anna's face before they heard a loud, sort-of 'urgh' sound come from behind them. Then a shout of "What the fuck- get off me!"

The siblings peered around the couch to the end of the living room, where Luc was holding Dean up against the wall, his hand wrapped around Dean's neck.

"What'd you do to Cas?" Luc growled, pulling a knife out of his pocket and flicking it open.

"Oh my god you cannot be-" Dean wheezed, before Luc held up the knife threateningly. "Jesus fuck - CAS!"

Cas and Anna sighed in tandem, then Cas called, "Luc, it's fine, I'm okay."

Luc glanced towards the siblings, then back at Dean. "Oh. Well, okay then." He let go of Dean, who dropped to his knees, wheezing. "I got a batsignal, and just kinda assumed from there."

"I suppose that's understandable." Cas said with a nod, and Anna smiled and stood up to walk over to her brother.

"Are- you-kidding-me?" Dean coughed, still crouched on the floor, as Luc walked over to the couch to sit down next to Cas and Anna patted him on the back comfortingly. "He pulled a knife on me!"

"I know, sweetie, he does that sometimes." Anna said with a smile.

"He  _does that sometimes_?!" Dean cried, eyes flicking rapidly from Anna to Cas to Luc. "You're a fucking psycho!"

Luc glanced back at Dean, and shrugged.  _Shrugged_ , the bastard. "Sorry?"

"Yeah, you're gonna be fucking sorry." Dean growled, as Anna helped him off the floor.

Anna smiled at him gently and not a little condescendingly. "Of course he is, honey."

Dean looked over to Cas, who was sitting patiently with Luc in the middle of the couch. "Seriously Cas?" His best friend turned from the couch to look at him in confusion. "Not even a hey, don't pull a knife on my best friend?  _Nothing_?"

"Hey," Cas said, emotionless, as he typed away on his phone. "Don't pull a knife on my best friend." Dean glared at him, and Cas sighed, and shrugged noncommitally. "He apologized, didn't he? That's the best you're going to get, really."

Anna patted his head and went to sit next to Luc. Dean squeezed himself in between Cas and the edge of the couch, and resolved to glare at Luc until his head exploded.

Cas' phone buzzed idly, and he opened the message quickly. "Gabe's on his way, though he- oh." Cas blushed. "We interrupted him and  Kali, so she's coming too."

"I'm texting Balthazar." Anna announced, pulling out her phone. "He's at the Roadhouse with Jo, so he can bring her too."

"Hold up, why are all these people coming here?" Dean asked, his eyes never leaving the side of Luc's head. "And why the fuck is  _Satan_ here?"

"I got a Batsignal, dumbass. That overrides all other engagements." Luc said with a smirk.

"Yeah, okay, what the fuck is that."

"We Novaks have a system." Anna explained, reaching for another handful of popcorn. "Certain messages and actions mean certain things. A Batsignal isn't really a bat anything, it's just what we call it. You type out characters in the shape of a pair of wings; it takes a fucking long time so no-one uses it unless there's a real crisis. And they have to be in a certain shape, which only we know how to make. It's to be used in emergencies that aren't immediately life-threatening but still suck quite a lot and require family intervention." She finished, and Luc and Cas nodded their agreement. She turned to face Luc. "It's my emergency, not Cas'. Just fyi."

"Oh." Luc said, then nodded in the direction of Dean. "So I don't have to kill him?"

"I would prefer you didn't." Cas said with a half smile, and Dean grinned and stuck his tongue out at Luc triumphantly.

 

————————

 

Gabriel and Kali arrived a few minutes after Jo and Balthazar, and then Anna began explaining the situation. The group's initial reactions were unhelpful, to say the least. Gabriel was of the opinion they should sneak into the school in the dead of the night and paint all the walls rainbow colored, and after that leave a dead skunk in the Vice Principals office, and Kali said she could make a couple calls to ensure that future homemakers club 'disappeared' (which did nothing to help everyone's suspicion that Kali came from a mafia family). Luc's idea was to hack the school's website so the top of every page was a clip of gay or lesbian porn, which,  _no_.Balthazar didn't entirely grasp the concept of homophobic small-town farm people, so he suggested they simply take the matter to the school board. Jo and Cas seemed to be in agreement that all the LGBTQA members and supporters should take a vow of silence and show their support for the club by wearing rainbow pins.

But none of the ideas took the right approach. After a while of listening, Dean spoke up. "See, the problem is, we can't  _attack_ the school."

The group gathered in the living room fell silent and turned to look at him. He coughed and continued. "Well, I mean, the VP's an asshole, but no one is stopping the club from meeting. You just lost your faculty whatever and they used that to justify taking everything else away. So your problem isn't shitty administrators, it's shitty representation. You need a way of showing people that you're a club that's necessary, not bitter. Right?"

Dean glanced around his group of friends, who all looked vaguely shocked that he was making sense. All except Cas, who was just smiling at him in that soft Cas way.

"Okay, you've actually got a point there." Anna said with a smile, and Jo gave him an excited thumbs up. "So, Dean, what do  _you_ suggest we do?"

"Um." Dean gulped, and glanced at Cas, who smiled encouragingly. "Well, it's gotta be public, right? And it can't be a protest or march or sit-on-"

"Sit-in." Anna said quietly.

"Yeah, whatever, you know what I mean. You have to show people how many LGB whatevers you have in the school, and you want a way to get them into the yearbook, so..." He paused. "Yeah, I got nothing."

"Prom."

Everyone turned to look at Cas. " _Prom_?" Balthazar scoffed incredulously.

Cas nodded once. "I've been told it's the most important event of the school year, so everyone will attend, right? And if we can somehow arrange for the same-sex prom couples to outnumber the straight ones, maybe you'll get some attention that way?"

"Oh my god." Kali said quietly, and raised her hand eagerly.

"Um, Kal. You don't have to raise your hand." Gabe said, smiling, into her ear.

"I do if I have a perfect plan!" She said, smacking him lightly on the arm. "Okay, so. Oh my god I'm brilliant. Oh my god. Seriously, Anna, you should be paying me for this brilliance. It's perfect! Oh my  _god_ this is exciting-"

"You gonna  _tell us_  your brilliant plan anytime soon?" Dean said, exasperated.

Kali glared at him for a second, but spoke. "Okay, so. As you all know- except probably Dean -since I was elected Junior Prom Queen last year when my top competitor had that nasty accident and fell into a coma for a month, I am an official member of the Prom committee. As is my boyfriend, because he has a lot of money and people are afraid of him." In one motion, Kali fist-bumped Gabe, winked at Dean, and flipped her hair expertly. Dean was more than a little terrified, because  _what_ happened to her opponent, again?

"And, even though the prom is in less than a few weeks, we have yet to come up with a theme. So, here's the plan. We call this year's Prom 'A Match Made in Heaven'." At this, Kali made the same motion Spongebob did when referring to 'imagination', and Anna rolled her eyes. "And we have everyone dress as famous couples throughout history and the media and shit-"

"Kal, how long has it been since you watched Never Been Kissed?" Anna asked, shaking her head.

"Rom-com marathon with Bex two days ago, shush. Anyway, Anna and her LGBTQA minions get as many people as they can to dress up as famous  _same-sex_ couples. Then, Gabe, as Student Body President you-"

Dean choked on his popcorn. "Hold up.  _Gabe_ is Student Body President? The asshole who put purple dye in the boys locker room shower heads?"

Gabe grinned at him evilly. "Won by a landslide, Dean-o."

"You voted for him." Cas said carefully, head tilting ever-so-slightly to the side.

"Oh you have got to be fucking kid-"

" _Anyway_." Kali interrupted, with a glare directed at Dean. "Gabe, you announce that at Prom there's gonna be a costume contest, with a  _cash prize_  and some other sort of prestigious award for the couple that wins." Gabe made a little noise, but Kali continued anyway. "I know, I know, you hate giving out money,  _but_ if it's a contest, we can make sure we photograph every couple that walks in, for judging reasons. And then Cas puts the couples in the yearbook. The couples which, if we convince enough people, will be at least 50% homosexual. A fun, clever, creative way to show people that our school is more than small-town hetero-hicks." She threw her hands up in the air as a sort of Ta-Da! and leaned back against the couch with a grin.

Anna stared at her friend. "..you know, that might  _actually_ work." She turned to look at her younger brother. "Cas, you think you can convince the others?"

"No problem. I am the chief of staff, after all." Cas said with a small smile, and Dean vaguely remembered that Cas had signed up to work on the yearbook staff a few months ago.

"And Gabe, the contest thing sounds alright?"

Gabe was still for a second. "I think it sounds like my girlfriend is a fucking  _genius_." He said, leaning towards Kali on the couch, then pressing her into it with a kiss.

"Eugh, get a room." Dean said, 110% aware of how childish he sounded.

Gabe hummed. "Gladly." He picked up Kali and threw her over his shoulder in one motion, and huh, apparently Gabe was stronger than Dean thought.

"My work here is done, bitches!" Kali said, giving them all a very regal wave as Gabe carried her, laughing, up the stairs.

Cas clicked his tongue as they watched the couple leave. He turned to Anna. "You know, sometimes I say a prayer of thanks that this house is so efficiently sound-proofed."

"Amen, brother." Luc said, shaking his head.

Anna made a little waving motion at both of her brothers. "No, but guys, Kali's plan. It might actually  _work_. All the yearbook pics give our school an image of tolerance, not to mention if the administration hates it, the LGBTQA can't be blamed for it, because it's the individual couple's choice of costume!"

Jo nodded at her best friend, smiling widely. "So, I'm thinking we get Becky on it."

"Oh, of course."

"I'll text her." Jo pulled out her phone, and the males gathered all exchanged confused glances.

"Becky on what?" Balthazar asked, wrapping an arm around Jo. Dean glared at him until he pulled it away sheepishly.

"Well, the costumes, obviously." Anna picked up a handful of popcorn from the nearly-empty bowl. "No-one knows famous love stories like Becky, and she's got enough tumblr in her to have at _least_ fifty same-sex costume ideas."

Jo's phone pinged. "Awesome, she'll be here in five. She was at the library."

"I'll make more popcorn!" Anna chirped, leaping up from the couch.

Dean turned to Cas slowly. "Why do I get the feeling this is a terrible idea?"

"Because you're a pessimist, shush." Cas said, pushing a little at Dean's arm.

Dean narrowed his eyes at his best friend. "What _is it_  with you people and shushing everyone?"

 

————————

 

When they told Becky the plan, Dean was pretty sure they broke her. Her hands flew to cover her mouth, her eyes widened like saucers, and she made a high-pitched squealing noise for about a minute as she bounced up and down.

"THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!" She cried finally, throwing herself at Anna and hugging her fiercely. "Wait until tumblr hears about this, oh my gosh, Equality Prom, I'm so happy-" She hugged each of them in turn, before taking a quick breath, and  _ow_ , she was stronger than she looked. "Okay, so. What do you need me for?" She grabbed both Jo and Anna's hands and pulled them over to the couch. "Talk to me."

Dean, Cas, and Balthazar all exchanged vaguely frightened expressions, before Balthazar slowly retreated into the kitchen. With a sigh, Cas and Dean joined the girls on the couch.

"We just need costume suggestions." Anna said. "Jo and I were thinking that you, Balthazar, Gabe and I could help the couples out with costumes, you know, sew what needs sewing, and Kali could 'borrow' what we need from the theatre's costume shop. But we need famous and historical same sex couples. Can we count on you?"

Becky gave her the most condesceding look Dean had ever seen. "Of  _course_." She scoffed and grabbed a handful of popcorn. "Okay, but first, we have to pair up the group. I mean, the two of you will want to go together, right?" Both girls nodded conspiratorily. "Kay, so Dean and Cas are going as a couple for obvious reasons-"

And there it went, Dean's second coughing fit of the day. "Obvious reasons? What obvious reasons?!"

Anna, Jo, Becky and Cas all turned to look at him questioningly. It was actually pretty interesting. Anna was looking at him like something she'd stepped on outside of a sleazy bar, Jo was giving him a look that was pure Jo: 60% condescension, 20% pity, 15% confusion, and 5% violence. Becky looked a little like she wanted to punch him as well, and Cas (Dean knew) was wondering if he had recently experienced some kind of head trauma. It was Cas who finally spoke. "Um, Dean. We're best friends. Is that not reason enough?"

"Oh. Ri-" Dean stammered. "Right, okay."

Becky rolled her eyes, but continued. "So, I'm thinking Gabriel and Balthazar, Kali and Meg, Ruby and Bela, and me and Lisa." She pulled a little notebook out of her jacket pocket, barely pausing for breath. "We can get let the other couples sorted out later. But just  _think_ of the potential, I mean, if they need ideas there's obviously Kirk and Spock, merthur, klaine, faberry, sterek, drarry, romercutio-"

" _Romercutio_?" Anna exclaimed, holding up a hand for Becky to stop. "As in Romeo  _slash_ Mercutio?"

"Shakespeare hath slain me with the feels." Becky said, completely straight-faced. She looked expectantly at each of them, before sighing defeatedly. "Inside joke with myself, sorry."

 

 ————————

 

_Two Weeks Before Prom_

"Flyers?"

"Check." Lisa said, patting the stack of paper next to her.

Becky tapped her clipboard thoughtfully. "Contest details?"

Anna gave her Mac a demonstrative key-board tap. "Sent out to all school email accounts, in three different facebook events, posted on both Gabe and Kali's tumblrs,  _and_ translated into nine different languages. So, check."

Becky smiled. "Gabe, Balthazar, Luc, Dean, Kali, Ruby, Meg, Jo and Bela charming people into dressing for the other team for a night?"

"Check!" Anna said, scrolling through her recent texts.

"Dean resolutely ignoring his feelings for Cas and therefore the fact that they're supposed to be going to prom together?"

Lisa groaned. "Double check." She flopped backwards onto Anna's bed with a huff.

"You know, I've been counting." Becky pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. "Dean and Cas glance awkwardly at each other to see if the other one's looking then turn away blushing at  _least_ twelve times a history class. Not to mention how often Dean touches Cas. Patting him on the arm, poking him in the side, ruflling his hair... there are maybe five or six minutes a period when they  _aren't_ touching each other." She rolled her eyes.

"They haven't chosen a couple yet, have they?" Anna grumbled, taking a bite out of a Redvine.

Becky shook her head. "I have been  _begging_ Dean to consider Merlin and Arthur, or  _god_ , Grantaire and Enjolras, Dean's got features feminine enough to be Enjolras, though neither of them have the hair- or even those two from that CW show? The hunter and the angel, what are their names?"

Lisa shrugged, and Anna rolled her eyes. "Hell if I know, there's that weird guy with the J name, and the Russian... Dmitri something? Maybe?"

"I think you're thinking of Anastasia..." Lisa said, sighing.

Becky frowned. "Whatever. The point is: they're awkward, and the sexual tension is just  _ridiculous_ at this point. Ideas?"

Lisa made a little face and waved her hand in the air exasperatedly. "I  _tried_ , like  _months_ ago, but all I get is staring wistfully into each other's eyes and so much repressed sexuality Dean is probably gonna combust at any minute."

"Yeah, and locking them in a room together did  _nothing_." Anna grumbled. "Oh, and god, you know what Dean's been doing lately? Burning up with jealousy every time someone even looks at Cas, then telling him 'you're like family, man'." Anna said, in a gruff imitation of Dean's voice. "I mean, how many mixed signals can you _give_? I don't even think the asshole is good enough for my brother and I want them to get over themselves and fuck already."

The three of them were silent for a minute. Suddenly, Beck threw her arms up triumphantly into the air and let out a loud whooping noise. Anna and Lisa gave her confused looks as she did a little happy dance.

"Um, Bex? You're doing your my-internal-monolauge-is-pleasing-to-me dance again." Anna said carefully. "Explain?"

"Destiel!" She cried happily. "It's perfect! Oh  _man_ , I'm good."

The other two girls just looked at their crazy shipper friend with a mixture of confusion and fondness, and decided not to ask.

 

———————— 

 

_Eleven Days Before Prom_

"CAS DO YOU WANT TO GO TO PROM WITH ME." Dean growled, throwing his hands into the air.

Silence.

"Shit, that came out too angry, didn't it? I meant to say: Cas. Do you want to go to prom with me?" Dean stuttered. "I mean, we kind of have to, or else your sister is going to kill us both, but I mean, you know, I'd like to go with you, I mean, it'd be fun. Because, you know, you're my best friend, and it'd be fun, and you could dress up, maybe in a waistcoat. It'd be fun,  because you have a lot of those, and you look really good in them, and... yeah. And I kinda like the way you smile, and I'd rather spend a night seeing your eyes crinkle and the corners of your mouth turn up a little than spend it with some girl I barely know dry-humping me to 'Party Rock Anthem'." Dean gulped. "Heh. No homo?"

He threw his head in his hands. "I cannot believe I just said that. No homo? What am I, twelve?" He looked into his bathroom mirror. "Why did I just say that?"

His mirror, the bastard that it was, didn't say anything.

"Should I ask him? Is it just a given that we're going together? What if he wants me to? What if I ask him and he thinks it's weird?" His mirror had still yet to respond. He groaned and thumped his head against it. "I'm so pathetic."

"Okay. Dean." Dean stared at his reflection in the mirror. "Pull yourself together, dude. It's not a date, it's just Prom. And you don't even like him that way." He laughed, then groaned. "Oh, who the fuck are you kidding?" He glared at his reflection again. "You know, this wouldn't be a fucking problem if you could just  _stick to one sexuality_. And if stupid Cas hadn't moved here and fucked  _everything_ up, making you-" Dean huffed, then frowned. "No, okay, things are definitely better with him around, scratch that last bit." He smiled a little, then laughed. "Definitely, a lot better."

Dean ran his hands through his hair again. "Jesus, man. Get a hold of yourself. I mean, what's Sam gonna think? What's  _Bobby_ gonna think? Or Ellen, or Jo, or....  _Jesus_ , Dad, wherever he is." He sighed frustratedly. "Okay, no, let's not go down those roads just yet."

He glared at himself. "Dean. You are allowed to want things for yourself." His gaze faltered. "Oh, who am I kidding? You're a selfish bastard, you shouldn't be thinking like that. But, man, it's Cas, right?  _Cas_."

He groaned again, picking up his toothbrush at last. "You. Are  _so_. Screwed."

 

 ————————

 

_A Week Before Prom_

"Dean." Cas said from atop his bed.

"Yeah, Cas?" Dean didn't look at him, electing instead to stare determinedly at his copy of Catcher in the Rye, where he had been reading the same paragraph for the last ten minutes. Should he ask Cas to Prom? What if Cas wanted to take someone else to Prom? Like Daphne, or that girl in their History class, or-

"We haven't discussed Prom yet. Becky has informed me there won't be any good costumes left if we take too long to decide. Who we're going as, that is."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Well, that solved that problem, didn't it? Dean stuttered nervously. "Oh, well, um- are we... going together?"

Cas didn't respond, so Dean glanced upward. After a few more seconds of silence, he leaned forward from where he was propped against the bed. "Cas?"

Cas was sitting cross-legged on the bed, glaring at his textbook with the same determination Dean had seconds before. "Did you not want to go together, then? I thou- well, Kali's plan. Though it's understandable if you don't, or if you're going to ask a cheerleader, or something."

No.  _Nonononononono_. "No!" Dean cried, a little too loudly. "I mean, naw, man, it'll be fun, right? Like, fuck the system and all that. Anyway, I've been looking through Becky's list, and I  _think_ I might have found some good costumes for us."

Cas looked up at him quickly, smiling in that small Cas way. "Oh really? Let's see them, Winchester."

Dean grinned, suddenly more excited and happy than he had been for  _days_. "Your wish is my command, Novak."

 

 ————————

 

_Prom Night_

"Alright, who do we have here?" Anna said, adjusting her lime green corset with a smile.

"I'm Thelma, and she's Louise." The senior girl said, and the girl on her arm gave Anna a forced smile.

"Who are you supposed to be?" Said Louise gruffly, gesturing to the vines curling up Anna's leg. "The offspring of a potted plant and a hooker?"

Anna smiled kindly, though a little menacingly, Dean noticed. "I'm Poison Ivy. My Harley Quinn is around here somewhere..." She trailed off, looking for Jo. "Oh well, you'll see her soon enough. Your costumes are great, guys. If you wanna go through there-" She pointed a gloved hand to the photo booth they had set up in the gym. "My older brother, the one dressed as a sweet transvestite from sensational Transylvannia, will take your picture and get you entered in the costume contest." She smiled again, though it was a little strained.

The senior girls walked away, and Anna turned back to Dean. "Man, Keysi really needs to pull that stick out of her ass." She shook her head. "Where did my brother and your sister go? We need our costume partners!" She scoffed, and Dean shrugged. "And where is  _Becky_? She's better at this whole meeting-the-people thing."

Dean glanced around, and spotted Cas by the punch bowl, then beckoned him over. Jo was standing next to him, thank god, in another spandex body-suit that had given her mother yet  _another_ heart attack. Honestly, it was like she  _wanted_ Ellen to disembowl him. but her skin-tight jester costume was actually very accurate; she looked exceptionally like the DC villainess. Jo even went all out- painting her face white and wearing a black mask and blood-red lipstick, though the most surprising thing was that she had her hair in two poofy side-pigtails. It reminded him of when she was seven, and he had pinched her cheeks when he first saw her. She was carrying a huge plastic sledgehammer as well, a prop from a play that Kali had found for her, which was more intimidating than it had any right to be.

But Dean simply couldn't pay attention to Jo's awesome costume when Cas was standing next to her. He looked  _good_. And he wasn't even that dressed up, as Cas wasn't very fond of outlandish costumes. He was simply wearing an impeccably fitted red button down shirt and a skinny tie, along with some very nice dress pants and a pair of aviators. And  _damn_ did Cas look good in aviators.

It... made more sense when he was standing next to Dean. Dean, who was dressed in full WWII regalia, complete with perfectly parted hair that Anna had spent ten minutes gelling and combing, and medals of honor.

A couple minutes after Cas and Jo crossed over to him, Becky and Lisa came through the gym doors, arms linked. Becky was wearing a black and white striped sweater over a black miniskirt, and Lisa was wearing a dark purple dress shirt, also with a black miniskirt, and a long black coat.

"Um, hey guys." Dean said, raising an eyebrow. "Who are you supposed to be?"

"Rule 63 Johnlock, obviously." Becky said with a roll of her eyes, then groaned when Dean looked no less confused. "John Watson and Sherlock Holmes from BBc's Sherlock. Just... as women."

"Oh. Right." It made no sense, but whatever. Dean supposed it was a definite sign that there were two hot girls in tight, black miniskirts in front of him, and he didn't even check them out. He did, however, find it dificult not to look at Cas every few seconds.

She smiled, then looked him up and down with a curious expression. "Who are  _you_ supposed to be?"

He winked at her, then turned around to gesture Cas over. As soon as they were standing next to each other, Lisa frowned, and Becky squealed. "Are you  _Stony_?!" She cried, then sighed when they gave her confused looks. "Steve Rogers and Tony Stark." Oh. Right.

"Yes ma'am." Dean said with a smile, nodding once.

"No, we're Cas and Dean." Cas said with sarcasm so dry deserts were jealous.

"Oh my  _god_ that's perfect." Becky said, beaming, before glancing behind them and letting out something that was a mix between a breathy moan and a cry of despair.

Cas and Dean turned around to see Balthazar and Gabe walking towards them, dressed like Greek warriors, carrying long swords.  _Over-compensaaatiiing_ , Dean thought with a smile. Also, hah, they were wearing skirts. Not that seeing Gabriel in a skirt was all that new; Dean still remembered Kilt Week, but Balthazar? Dean was just glad he'd have photographic evidence of the occurance.

Becky let go of Lisa's arm and marched straight up to Balthazar. "Are you, by any chance, Achilles and Patroclus?"

"Got it in one. Clever deduction, Watson." Balthazar said with a wink, obviously expecting to charm Becky with his lack of pants, almost lack of shirt, and knowledge of her costume. What no one was expecting, however, was for the tiny blonde to punch him in the arm angrily.

"Ow! What the fuck, Beck?" Balthazar groaned, rubbing his arm.

She glared at him, and growled, "I just read Song of Achilles, you insensitive fuck."

He looked at Becky confused, then glanced desperately to Gabe for help. Gabe just shrugged, looking vaguely amused, but mostly afraid Becky would punch him next.

Lucklily, at that moment, Anna came skipping up to them, grinning excitedly. "Becky, you  _have_ to see this- nice skirts." She said, glancing at Balthazar and Gabe.

"What is it?" Becky said, in a vaguely threatening tone, and Anna bounced on her heels, beaming.

"Look!" She pointed to where Anna's boyfriend, Josh, was standing with a guy Dean recognized from the Varsity baseball team. They were both in skin-colored tight body suits, so it looked like they were naked, with only giant felt leaves covering their junk and their... well, asses. No way in hell  _that_ was dress-code appropriate.

"Oh my wizard god." Becky said, slowly covering her mouth with one hand. "Are they Adam and  _Steve_?"

"Yes, yes they are. Bow before the awesomeness that is my boyfriend." Anna said with a grin, before leaning over to whisper in Becky's ear. "His friend's single."

Becky's expression was so shocked it was comical. "Lisa and I need to take a picture, then  _lead the way_."

 

 ————————

 

Kali's prom plan was surprisingly successfull. The fact that Anna was friends with so many  pursuasive girl and was one herself, helped them gather participation, as did the prize for best couple's costumes, because they both proved excellent motivators. It didn't exactly hurt that everyone was terrified of Cas, and all he really had to do was look vaguely irritated and people would say yes. Dean guessed around 70 to 80% of the couples at the dance were same-sex, and Becky sat next to him for a few minutes around halfway through and pointed out some of the best ones.

"See, over there, that's Legolas and Aragorn, which,  _drool_ , and Harry and Draco.  That one I'm surprised at, because it's obviously very controversial, but hey, we have a Miguel and Tulio, so I guess we're going with controversial. ... _really_? You  _don't_ know Miguel and Tulio? That was like my  _childhood_ you uncultured swine. Ugh, whatever. Look over there, see? That's Anakin and Obi-Wan, how great is that? Oh! And over there is Xena and Gabrielle, _and_  Klaine, so some classics over there... And I think I saw Brittany and Santana earlier, and  _ohmigosh_ that's Galinda and Elphaba _I can't_. But you know, I'm disappointed. No Kirk and Spock?  _Really_? That's like, the  _original_ slash ship; some people have no respect for the classics. I mean, seriously. McLennon and Gatsaway, but not Kirk and Spock?  I think I even saw Hannigram somewhere. People are the worst sometimes. _IS THAT WILLOW AND TARA_?"

It was really hard to understand what Becky was saying sometimes, even if she spoke perfect English.

 

————————

 

To say Jo was tired of horny highscool assholes would be a major understatement. The guy she hooked up with at the Halloween party, Toby, had been following her around all night and hitting on her, like he stood a chance after blowing her off so harshly after Halloween. And, to top it off, Anna had needed Balthazar for incident control and she hadn't seen him for almost half an hour, which was kind of terrible, seeing as he was nearly shirtless and in armor. Greek armor. What? She really loved the movie Troy, and to be sorta dating a Greek warrior was  _awesome_. Of course, knowing her luck, she didn't actually get to appreciate that.

"Harvelle, seriously. One dance." Toby said, sliding up behind her. "I'll make it worth your while."

"Fuck off." She said, pushing him away slightly. Didn't want to hurt the little weakling, now did she? "For the last time, not gonna happen. I'm here with someone."

"Yeah, your Poison Ivy. Somehow, I never got the batting-for-the-other-team feel from you." He grinned at her like the sleazebag he was.

"Not Anna. I have a- a boyfriend." That's what Balthazar was, right? A boyfriend? She wasn't sure; they never really discussed things like that.

"Oh yeah, that's real convincing." Toby rolled his eyes, and looked around. "If you have a boyfriend, where is he?"

"He's-"

"Nonexistant? Just like he was on Halloween, when you and I found a closet and had a  _lot_ of fun inside it?"

"Listen, I jus-" Someone tapped Jo on the shoulder, and she groaned as she turned around. "What now?"

Balthazar just grinned at her. "Evening, Harvelle. Been looking for you."

"Oh thank God." She said quietly, then frowned. "Um, I'm having an asshole with rejections issues problem. You mind?"

Balthazar looked behind her, to where Toby was standing. "Sod off, mate. The lady's with me."

Jo heard Toby scoff from behind her. "A  _lady_? Jo?" Well fuck you too, asswipe.

Balthazar rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that's an original insult. Fuck off, I don't have the patience for twats like you right now." He looked back down at Jo, then glanced around. "Do you know where Dean is?"

Um, okay, weird question. Jo looked around, then spotted her almost-brother with his back to them in front of the snack table. "Currently preoccupied with all the free food, the pig." She pointed, and Balthazar's eyes found Dean.

"Brilliant." He said, then leaned down and kissed her. She made a little humming noise and kissed him back eagerly, wrapping her arms around his neck and tangling her fingers in his hair.  _Man_ did the brit know how to kiss. He bit down on her lip a little, and she giggled before they separated at last.

"So." She said, arms still around his neck. "You're afraid of Dean, aren't you."

"Bloody right I am." He says, grinning at her. "I told you about our little chat, right? when he pulled a  _machete_ on me? And if that weren't bad enough, he could tell your mum."

She raised an eyebrow. "You're afraid of my  _mom_?"

"That cannot  _possibly_ be a serious question." He mutters, shuddering a little. He reaches over and tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear, because he thinks it's a crime to cover her face. "So, I'm your boyfriend now, am I?"

Jo rolled her eyes. "You are when old hookups try and repeat the past."

Balthazar raised an eyebrow. "Old-  _him_?" He glanced behind her again. "That guy. Really."

Jo frowned. "Judgement is not going to get you kissed again."

"But you like  _me_ now, so you must have taste." Balthazar said, the cocky bastard. "And I'm your boyfriend?"

"Maybe."

"Good." He said, and then kissed her again, slowly and softly. The music in the air changed then, to something slow and cheesy. They separated again, and he whispered, "Wanna dance?"

Jo smirked at him, then shrugged. "If I must."

 

 ————————

 

"What are you doing?" Anna asked, glaring disapprovingly at Dean.

"What do you mean?" He asked through a mouthful of finger-food.

"It's a  _slow_ song, idiot. We're trying to make a point, remember? About same-sex couples? You can't make a point by sitting on your ass and stuffing your face." She pointed behind her to the dance floor angrily. "Get your head out of your ass, find my brother, and  _ask him the fuck to dance._ " She growled. "I'm going to go find Jo.  _Don't_ be here when I come back."

Oh  _fuck_. Dean hadn't even realized. There was a slow song playing, and slow songs meant dancing, and he'd have to dance with Cas, and he'd have to  _ask_ Cas to dance, and... His entire mind shut down for a second in sheer panic, before Anna hoisted him out of his chair and shoved him towards the dance floor. He glared back at her, and she glared right back. Dean grumbled and went to find Cas, beacuse he wasn't stupid enough to go against Anna's will. Those Novaks were  _scary_ when they were angry.

He found Cas by the DJ's table, where Gabe was trying to bribe the DJ into letting him take over. Luckily, that commanded the older Novak's full attention, so Dean didn't have an audience. He tapped Cas on the shoulder with a nervous smile.

"Hey, man." He said, shuffling his feet a little.

"Hello, Dean." Cas sighed, looking a little worn out. "Remind me why I acknowledge publically that I'm related to this lunatic?" He gestured in Gabe's direction, and Dean shrugged.

"No idea. Hey, youwannadancewithme?" Dean said, as quickly as he could.

Cas just raised an eyebrow and tilted his head to the side.

"Do-you-want-to-dance-with-me?" Dean said, as slowly as he could. "Your sister- she might castrate me if we don't. So, um, dance with me, Cas?"

And then it happened. A Cas smile. A smile that was so  _pure_ , and happy and-  _Cas_. Complete with eye-crinkling. It was stupid, and cheesy, and horribly chick flick, but at that moment, everything else faded to the background. There was only him and Cas. And that- that was how it should be. No Meg, no Daphne, no Bela, no any of the random hookups Dean had had since he met Cas. And you know what? Screw everyone else, and _screw_ his sexuality. He held out his hand, and Cas took it, still smiling.

"Let's go, Novak." He said quietly, before pulling Cas onto the dance floor. Once there, he froze. Which one of them would be the girl?

Cas must have sensed his discomfort, because he gave Dean a small smile and pulled him in, opting to hold one of Dean's hands against his chest and the other to the side. They swayed slowly in time, which was  _stupid_ , not to mention cheesy and very middle school, but it didn't feel like that. It felt...  _nice_. Comfortable, and warm, and tingly, but not in the turned-on sense. More like, in the shit-I-may-be-falling-in-love-with-my-best-friend sense.

He pulled Cas a little closer, squeezing his hand as he did, and pressed their foreheads together. Cas let out a little breathy laugh at the action, and Dean was going to try his best to make him smile like that as often as he could.

The song drifted on and they swayed, hands clasped together, breathing the same air with their eyes closed. The moment was so nice Dean couldn't even complain about the song: some hipster crap he was pretty damn sure Gabe was responsible for.

Cas pulled his head away slowly, letting go of the hand not pressed to Dean's chest, and Dean's entire being panicked and complained at the loss of contact, before he realized Cas had pulled away so he could rest his head on Dean's shoulder, and had separated their hands so he could hold Dean's waist and pull him even closer. Dean froze for a second, because he could feel Cas' breath on his neck and his hand was warm on Dean's hip and their chests were touching and what was he supposed to do with his other hand-

Cas, because he was a mind reader sometimes, sensed Dean's discomfort and squeezed his hand softly. This was enough to snap him out of his mind-numbing panic, and he just went with his instinct, threading his free hand around so it rested on Cas' lower back. Cas hummed happily when he did, and Dean laughed to himself, because  _of course_. This was  _Cas_. Everything came easy with him.

The song, and therefore their dance, ended shortly after. They separated slowly as some pop song started blaring through the speakers, both smiling shyly at each other as people began dancing crazily around them. Dean looked at Cas, smiling gently and easily at him, and decided _fuck it_ , it was now or never. "Hey, come with me?" Cliche, sure, but it did the trick. Cas smiled and nodded slowly.

They walked towards the doors, hands brushing and sides almost pressed together. The teachers who were supposed to be chaperoning had long since been bribed by Gabe to 'make themselves scarce', so no one was going to stop them. They passed by Lisa as they walked, and she winked at Dean, beaming as she did so.

Dean winked back, and led Cas out the double doors with a hand on his back.

 

 ————————

 

Becky was freaking out. Freaking the  _fuck_ out. Dean and Cas were dancing, and it was  _beautiful_. It was like angels were singing in her ears. This was it, it was _happening_.  _Finally_ an otp that would become canon! Anna and Lisa were cupid, and Dean and Cas had finally been struck by their arrow.

To repeat: DEAN AND CAS WERE SLOW DANCING AND TOUCHING AND HOLDING EACH OTHER AND TOUCHING AND SMILING AND SO CLOSE TO KISSING AND THEY WERE DANCING AND SWAYING AND IN LOVE AND SMILING AND ALMOST KISSING AND-

"Buenas noches, Bex."

Becky whipped around, only to see-  _finally_ a Kirk costume. She smiled knowingly. " _Please_ tell me you have a Spock around here somewhere?"

"Um, yeah, he ditched me for some chick in a cowgirl outfit." He shrugged. "You know how Chuck is, a little loco."

Becky froze, finally recognizing the voice and speech pattern. " _Ash_? You... got a haircut."

"Uh, yeah." Ash ran his hands through his hair. "Um... you like?"

"Yeah, much preferable to the mullet. Not that it wasn't a good look for you." She blushed. In this light, in that costume, with that hair, he looked... handsome. She was proud of him.

"Oh, thanks." He blushed a little. "I was hoping you would. Hey, so, have any dudes tried to, um, pick you up? Since this, that is," He gestured to her hair and her tight black miniskirt in one movement.

"Oh, you have  _no idea_." She said with a smile, tucking her loose hair behing her ear and trying to feign confidence. "Why do you ask?"

"Um, because they don't deserve you? They just like you because you're hot, and because they just realized it."

Becky frowned. Of course she knew that, she wasn't an idiot. " _And_?"

He coughed, looking at the floor. "And they don't know that your favorite color is Tardis blue, your first fandom was Star Trek. Or that you like tumblr because it's like having a nerdy family, and your favorite shirt has a Pink Floyd logo on it, even though you've never even heard their music. And you like buttons because of the texture and shape." Ash smiled slowly and shrugged. "And that the way I talk bothers you, because I sound uneducated and you know how high my IQ is."

"Um... okay?" Becky nodded slowly. Where was he going with this? "Those are all true things, I'll admit. But what's your point?"

"My point is that on November fifteenth I saw you in your winter coat, with your nose all red and cute and stuff, and I've  _kinda_ wanted to kiss you ever since. Also I got my hair cut for you, and I can start talking like a normal person, if you want."

"Oh." Becky gaped at him for a second. "That would- um, you wanna dance?"

"I'd like that, yeah." He said, exhaling harshly. "I'd like that a lot."

She grabbed his hand and pulled him on to the dance floor as quickly as she could, not wanting to miss the slow song. She wrapped her arms around him, and he placed careful hands on her waist. "Who told you to dress like Kirk?"

"Um, no one? I used to watch the show with my mom, and he always seemed really into Spock, so I just went with my gut, because hey, can't ignore a classic, right?" He looked down at her sheepishly.

Becky was surprised. The perfect, classic costume was Ash's idea? She examined him quickly, evaluating what she saw. His hair was actually really nice, when it wasn't in that god-awful mullet, and he was really, really cute when he smiled. And she realized it was cliche and horribly rom-com, having this boy that liked you when no one else did sweep you off your feet, but seriously? She didn't give a fuck. In fact, she  _liked_ that she got to have her rom-com moment. It felt good.

Becky smiled up at him, then pulled him down for a kiss. Just one; light and soft, to try things out. She found she  _really_ liked kissing Ash; his lips were soft and he didn't immediately try to jam his tongue in her mouth. When she pulled away, he looked dazed but happy, and she grinned. "You don't have to change the way you talk, you know." She said softly. "It's sort-of endearing."

"Bitchin'." Ash laughed, and pulled her in a little closer.

 

 ————————

 

Dean should have had a plan. Seriously, he  _never_ thought things through. So there he was, standing in the dark under a tree listening to Fall Out Boy blasting out of the gym, kicking his shoes in the dirt and not looking at Cas.

"So..." Cas said from about a foot away from Dean. "Why are we outside? Isn't the point for our costumes to be seen?"

"Ye-" Dean croaked, then cleared his throat quickly. He looked up at Cas finally, which, um, was pretty much the  _worst_ thing he could've done. Cas was looking at him confusedly, in that adorable Cas head-tilty way, standing there with his hands in his pockets. And it was a majorly bad idea to have him dress as Dean's favorite superhero, because yeah, Tony Stark was a badass mo-fo, but his wardrobe looked just a little too good on Cas. "Yeah, but um, you know, I just had to, you know, tell you..." He trailed off.

"Tell me what?" Cas said, completely oblivious, as usual.

"That- okay. So I've been trying to work my way up to saying this for a while, but I didn't want to fuck things up, because you're my best friend, and you seemed to only be into chicks, but sometimes you look at me and I think maybe you feel like I do, and-" Dean coughed. _Oh, get over yourself, Winchester. Just fucking man up and **tell** him_. "I just had to tell you- that I like you, man." Dean said, shutting his eyes to avoid seeing Cas' reaction.  _You **like** him? For fuck's sake, you really **are** twelve. Well, at least you fucking told him. Idiot._  Dean, eyes still closed, waited for Cas to say something,  _anything_. 

There were a couple seconds of silence before Cas spoke again. "...yes, I know." Dean opened his eyes quickly, and his head jerked up to look at Cas. The other boy was still doing that head-tilty thing. "...that's why we're friends."

 _"_ Oh my  _god_ Cas," Dean groaned, wondering exactly how much he'd have to explain to his completely oblivious friend, before he saw the slight grin on Cas' face. "...you son of a bitch. You know what I meant."

"Yeah." Cas said with a shrug, the  _bastard_ , and stepped a little closer to Dean. "I usually do. But you're cute when you over-explain things." He said, and smiled his adorable little half-smile.

And then Cas kissed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so whatdya think?
> 
> is making a fandom shipping prom too self-indulgent? WELL I DON'T CARE
> 
> thank you guys so much for your amazing comments and your kudos and for not yelling at me for not updating.
> 
> sorry for insulting Disney Channel
> 
> sorrynotsorry for Dean and Cas' costumes
> 
> as always, i adore comments, and I'm unbeta-ed, so tell me what mistakes I've made


	13. In Which Dean Makes Choices

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the end of prom night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wanna know why i took so long to update?
> 
> http://pieandangelwings.tumblr.com/post/69291335120/nervous-laughter-on-the-subject-of-so-glad-to
> 
> bam

"I just had to tell you- that I like you, man." Dean said, shutting his eyes to avoid seeing Cas' reaction.  _You **like** him? For fuck's sake, you really  **are**  twelve. Well, at least you fucking told him. Idiot. _Dean, eyes still closed, waited for Cas to say something,  _anything._

There were a couple seconds of silence before Cas spoke again. "...yes, I know." Dean opened his eyes quickly, and his head jerked up to look at Cas. The other boy was still doing that head-tilty thing. "...that's why we're friends."

"Oh my  _god_ Cas," Dean groaned, wondering exactly how much he'd have to explain to his completely oblivious friend, before he saw the slight grin on Cas' face. "...you son of a bitch. You know what I meant."

"Yeah." Cas said with a shrug, the  _bastard_ , and stepped a little closer to Dean. "I usually do. But you're cute when you over-explain things." He said, and smiled his adorable little half-smile.

And then Cas kissed him.

It was a bit of a surprise, honestly. One second Dean was freaking out (very subtly, obviously) because Cas had referred to him as 'cute' (which really should have been taken as an affront to his manhood but he, strangely, saw it as a _compliment_ ), the next Cas' lips were on his, rough and warm and _hnnnn_.

Cas pulled away quickly, before Dean even had the opportunity to find out what Cas tasted like, and map the inside of his mouth and the lines of his body and that, Dean thought, was completely and totally not fair at _all_.

"So that's that." Cas nodded once. "Thoughts?"

"Though- huh?" Dean said, dumbstruck. It was extremely possible kissing Cas had the side effects of overriding his motor functions and killing any brain cells he had left. So worth it.

Cas frowned. "Are you alright?"

"You-" Dean took a deep breath, trying to regain the ability to form complete sentences. "There was kissing."

Cas smiled slightly, an adorable half-smirk,  and nodded. "There was. Thoughts?"

"Mostly 'holy crap'." Dean exhaled harshly, mind still trying to figure out how it was supposed to work.

"Hmm." Cas stepped a little closer to him, so their noses touched slightly, brushing against each other. His breath was warm against Dean's mouth, his lips inches from Dean's. Cas' voice was a low hum as he said, "Is that a _good_ holy crap?"

Dean laughed, more of a stuttering expulsion of breath than anything else. "Yeah." _Goddamit Dean, aren't you supposed to be good at this, asshole?_ His brain supplied, apparently capable of full sentences again. Well, good for it.  "Yeah, a very good one. Like, the best ever."

"Good." Cas nodded, grin widening a bit. "Because very soon there will be more kissing, and I'd prefer you enjoy it."

 _More kissing_? Dean's brain was having some trouble processing that one. He took in the sight before him, of Cas' face, barely lit by the lights pouring out of the gym, in shirt that looked much too good on him to ever be considered okay, smirking at him like the sexy asshole that he was. He could not think of a single thing on the planet he wanted more than Cas' lips on his. _More... kissing_. Dean grinned, and grabbed the collars of Cas' shirt, then pulled him in for a real, proper, kiss.

Cas made a little humming noise of surprise, and wrapped his arms around Dean's neck, pulling him in closer. Dean must've moved his arms from Cas' chest at some point, because the next time he was capable of thought they were on Cas' hips. There was licking, and sucking, and a tentative bite at some point, probably, but Dean wasn't too sure when. The moment Cas' mouth was on his, everything else went out the window, and he really didn't pay much attention to what was happening; too busy focusing on the _hnnnnnnnnng_ part.

Dean decided, then and there, that kissing Cas was the best decision he'd ever made, and the best thing he'd ever done. In fact, there was a pretty good chance it'd be the only thing he'd ever do again. It was like a revelation, or like that feeling you get when you've been trying to remember something really important and suddenly it's just there, in your mind- yeah, like that. Almost a year's worth of pent-up sexual tension and confusing feelings coming out in one, perfect, kiss. And another. And another, until somehow Cas had Dean pressed against a tree; their bodies were flush against each other, and Cas' hands were tangled in his hair. And it was fucking _awesome_. With Cas' tongue roaming Dean's mouth with an intensity and skill that was probably illegal in at least five countries, Dean was fighting just trying to friggin' _keep up_.

Then Cas started grinding, slow and rough, against Dean and pushing him almost painfully against the rough bark of the tree, and all bets were off. The rough-almost painful feel of it all, as Cas captured Dean's bottom lip between his teeth, was so different from the sultry-softness of all the hook-ups he'd ever had- and still _so fucking good_.

Sure it was soundtracked by the faded noise of some blasting hipster crap coming out of the gym, but hey, can't have everything. Dean made a mental note to take Cas for a drive sometime in the near future, so their makeout soundtrack could be proper music, like Zeppelin or AC/DC. He pulled away slowly, which meant he had to stop kissing Cas, which was terrible, and he would not recommend it to anyone. But he had to tell Cas before he forgot.

"I'm taking you for a drive sometime. I've just decided." He whispered.

"That sounds like fun." Cas muttered, voice rough and breathless, breath ragged, his lips still centimeters from Dean's. "Will Sam be coming with us?"

Dean laughed, kissing Cas just because he could, and wasn't _that_ awesome? "Only if you want to scar him for life, or are really into threesomes." He paused, and shuddered. "Which you can't have, by the way. That's- just- _no_."

Cas just laughed at the sour expression on Dean's face, and suddenly, the rough sexual feelings Dean had been having since he first felt the bark against his back vanished, replaced by a fond affection. Dean, surprisingly enough, was not too put out by the change of mood. "Oh, so this drive is a cleverly disguised date, is it?"

Dean pulled away. " A date? Oh, hell no. It'll just be the two of us, driving for as long as we want, together, you complaining about my taste in music and me smiling at how cute you are when you're frustrated." He paused, then smiled slightly. "If we happen to end up making out in the back of my car, then so be it."

Cas raised an eyebrow. "Your car? Why  your car? Wouldn't it be easier and faster to just go for a drive in _my_ car?"

"Your-" Dean sputtered, trying to find a way to say _oh hell fucking no we are not taking your stupid tiny hippy car for a drive, Cas, what the hell kind of drugs are you even on_ nicely, when he noticed the teasing smirk on Cas' face. "Oh- that was- you were joking."

"I was joking." Cas clarified with a smile.

Dean let out a shaky burst of breath, relieved, and shook his head. "Asshole." He smiled at Cas, hands gripping lightly at the fabric of Cas' dress shirt near his hips, and gave him a hopeful grin. "So, can I take that as a yes?"

"Hmm." Cas smiled gently at him, stroking his jaw in a way that should probably not have felt so good, so intimate, but did anyway. "I'll think about it."

Dean lost track of how long they stood there; just... staring. Not creepily, just, like, looking, He could tell Cas was counting his freckles, just like Dean was trying to figure out how eyes could possibly be so blue and yet so warm.

Then 'Paranoid' started blaring through the air and completely killed the mood. Dean laughed, and said "Sorry, hold on.",  before pulling his phone out of his pocket, and reading a text from Anna.

_[from: anna] Where are you guys? The contest results are about to be announced_

The phone pinged again, showing another message.

_[from: anna] ARE YOU WITH CAS?????????????_

Another ping.

_[from: anna] Sorry, that was becky. But your presence is formally requested inside. Like now_

Dean groaned, and showed Cas the list of messages. He smirked.

"Well, it seems we are needed elsewhere." He pulled away, separating their bodies, and Dean whined at the loss of contact. Not that he'd ever admit it.

"But... _dude_. There was _kissing_."

Cas nodded, and smiled. "And there will be more. After we leave this antiquated mating ritual."

"You're a freak." Dean laughed, shaking his head slightly.

Cas shrugged, and smirked in a way Dean tried (and failed, horribly) not to find sexy. "You like it." He said, and it did not escape Dean that he lowered his voice as he did so. It also did not escape him that he found this new register _really fucking hot_. Cas smirked at him, raising an eyebrow, and glanced down to Dean's crotch. With a grin that was pure, genuine _evil_ , he said, with a low drawl, "Down, boy."

Sputtering, Dean couldn't decide between wanting to laugh because _what the hell Cas who told you it was cool to talk like a stripper_ , and a little bit wanting to rip off Cas' shirt with his teeth. Finally, he decided on shaking his head and saying, "Meg was a _terrible_ influence on you, wasn't she?"

Cas just shrugged. "It's possible."

Dean smirked back at him, shaking his head fondly, then reached a hand out to fix Cas' hair, which was looking just a tad more sexed-up than usual. Cas just laughed quietly and helped Dean with his own hair, shaking his head slightly.

"You know, it was really inconsiderate of you to mess this up," Dean gestured to his head. "When Anna spent so much time on it."

Cas rolled his eyes. "Sorry, next time you have your tongue in my mouth I'll just shove my hands down your pants instead of your hair."

... _aaand_ Dean was going into cardiac arrest.

He choked on air and felt his entire face light up like a frickin' christmas tree as he wheezed, trying to contemplate this new side of Cas that was apparently dead set on making Dean spontaneously combust. He looked back at Cas, who was smiling at him with a mixture of innocence and arrogance, knowing _exactly_ what he was doing and loving every second of it. "Too forward?" Cas said with a smirk, because he was a malignant son of a bitch and needed to be stopped.

In response, Dean reached out and grabbed Cas by the waist, pulling his body flush against Dean's, and grinded his hips against Cas'. "Not forward enough." He whispered into Cas' mouth, lips ghosting over Cas', the merest fraction of an inch between them. As Cas leaned in to the kiss, eyes fluttering closed, Dean leaned back, a malicious grin on his face as Cas' eyes blinked open, confused, then narrowed as he realized what Dean was doing.

Cas shook his head slowly, glaring at him. "You bastard."

"Mm." Dean ran his tongue across his top lip slowly. "Talk dirty to me, Novak."

Cas laughed, and winked at him. "Later, maybe. For now," He  nodded his head in the direction of the gym, and held out his hand to Dean.

Dean looked at it, and in half a second, imagined walking into Prom holding Cas' hand.

_The spotlight finds the two boys, and the music stops. Gabe Novak is laughing like a donkey, poised at the microphone, and slips Balthazar a twenty. Anna's eyes widen, and she punches Dean in the face for violating her brother. Jo scoffs, and says 'well, that explains a lot'. All respect leaves her eyes. From the back of the room, a blood curdling screech is heard. Becky leaps onto the boys, grinning like a madwoman and cackling. She immediately breaks four of their ribs. Lucifer and Michael appear, and Michael yanks Cas away, threatening to sue. Lucifer walks up to Dean and stabs him in the eye._

_Sam appears in the middle of the dance floor, a look of disgust on his face. 'some roll model you turned out to be' a voice calls from the back of the room. It's Bobby. He looks disappointed. Allistair can be heard from the back, shouting ‘I fucking knew it'. There is pandemonium. Dean is immediately cast in the school musical, and his suit turns magenta around him. He feels his arms go weak; he knows nothing about cars anymore, but can recite every Broadway musical made in the last twenty seven years. His hair is heavy with gell, his hands soft, like a girl's._

_He tries to ask what's going on, looking to Cas. His voice is seven octaves higher. Suddenly, he is surrounded by ex girlfriends who are all nodding understandingly, as if this was something they always expected. They start to laugh, all of them, in unison. Meg tries to bite his hand off, screaming as she does. Kali takes a video on her phone, for youtube. Chuck, Victor and Ash stand to the side, refusing to meet his eye. The friendship is over. They aren't comfortable with him anymore, afraid he'll hit on them._

_Becky is still clinging onto his leg._

Dean's eyes widened in panic. "Huh, Cas?" Overreacting? Who's overreacting? "Can we, uh, not?" _At least until I stop freaking out. And tell Sammy._

Cas raised an eyebrow. "Not what?"

Dean gulped, and gave a little nervous laugh. "The whole, hand-holding thing. And the- telling people thing. Just for-"

"Sure." Cas interrupted quickly, looking down at the ground, then back to Dean. "Th- that's fine."

"Awesome."

Cas moved his arm back to his side, and gestured for Dean to follow him. They walked, side by side, to the gym, silent with- _something_ unspoken and heavy between them. Dean had to refrain from reaching out to grab Cas' hand, everyone else be damned, no less than seven times along the way.

____

The winners of the costume contest were two seniors, Olivia something and her boyfriend Jack something. They were dressed as Lady Liberty and Uncle Sam, and, since they were both blonde-haired, blue-eyed, patriotic straight white people, Anna explained, there was no way they couldn't let them win and expect anything but the wrath of the school board. To absolutely no-one's surprise, Gabe was elected Prom King. To almost everyone's (except Ash, who looked far too pleased with himself) surprise, instead of Kali, their Prom Queen was... _Anna_.

Jo, Dean, and Cas had to practically drag her onstage, as she grumbled under her breath about 'patriarchal system's and 'idiotic beauty pageants masquerading as rites of passage's, and almost bit Jo's hand. Finally, they got her onstage, and a terrified sophomore placed the crown on her head with shaking hands as Anna glared at him. She stepped up to the microphone with a heavy sigh. "Hello, _underlings_."

Jo wolf-whistled, and Anna gave an exaggerated wink, grinning at her friend. She took another breath, put on a dazzling smile, and leaned into the microphone again.

"I, as your reigning Khaleesi of Prom, would like to thank you for this honor, and I'd just like to say how happy I am to be dressed as a plant woman as I recieve it." She smiled out at the crowd and Dean mentally assumed crash positions, mapping out all the exits of the gym in his mind and finding the quickest route to get himself and Cas the fuck out of there. You know, just to be safe. "First of all, I'd like to thank the beautiful Joanna Harvelle, without whom I would've brutally murdered at least eleven of you."

There was a laugh from the back of the room, accompanied by a muffled 'like to see you try, hipster barbie'.

Anna's eyes narrowed, and she leaned into the microphone and growled, "... _twelve_."

Gabe coughed next to her, and she beamed out at the crowd again. "Anyway, I am your queen. Your king is my brother, so thank you, voting people, for promoting incest."

"Twincest, actually." Gabe said cheerfully, a huge grin on his face.

"Right, twincest." Anna nodded thoughtfully. "I have no idea what to say, mostly because why the _hell_ did anyone think I'd make a good Prom Queen? All of you should've voted for Kali, honestly. Oh, I'd also like to thank Kali, for being beautiful and wonderful and also so she doesn't take this crown from my lifeless corpse later tonight. Oh, and thanks to my boyfriend, Josh, because he's a hot hunk of man-meat and we all know it."

Dean hid his face in his hands, and Jo patted him on the back understandingly.

"My thanks to you, peasants, for making my Senior year of highschool an adventure. I will, no doubt, forget most of you in a month." She gave the crowd a two-fingered salute. "Seriously, guys, not Prom Queen material. You getting it yet?" She shrugged, and adjusted her green gloves. "I'm told I have to say something inspiring, so here goes: be who you are, love who you wanna love, and, for your own sake, never say 'yolo', 'swag', or 'Justin Bieber' ever again."

Gabe grabbed the microphone. "And for those of you who flood my Instagram with inane pictures of your Starbucks order; if we I ever see another one of those goddamn posts I will shove you forcefully out of existence. You know who you are." He handed the microphone back to her, saluted the crowd, and skipped over to the DJ table.

Anna nodded, slowly, pulling the microphone back to her lips. "And please, _please_ , stop being dicks to each other. There's absolutely no need for that." Glancing at her friends, she grinned widely to each of them in turn, ending with a wink to Jo. She looked back to Gabe, who gave her a thumbs up.

"And now..." She closed her eyes, bowed her head, and pointed at Gabe. "The weather."

The sounds of a banjo (or maybe a mandolin?) filled the gym space as Anna and Gabe stepped off the stage, arm in arm. Jo, Becky, Balthazar and Dean walked ahead of them, clearing the floor. "Move people, king and queen gotta have a first dance!" Jo shouted, shoving people when necessary.

Gabe and Anna then proceeded to do an interpretive Irish jig side-by-side to a song that, if Dean heard it correctly, seemed to be about being in love with a pirate named Sebastian. (Anna later confirmed that the song was called 'Gay Pirates', and that was _exactly_ what it was about). Their classmates seemed to be confused and a little frightened, and didn't join in as the song switched to 'Mickey' (you know the one. It's got cheerleaders). Honestly, Dean couldn't blame them.

Luckily, Jo, Balthazar, Becky, Ash, Lisa, and Ruby started dancing with the Novak siblings, and soon the crowd looked a lot less bewildered, offended, and terrified, and began dancing as well.

The dance ended about an hour after that, after two separate slow songs during which Dean determinedly looked anywhere but at Cas. His dance partners for the two numbers were Jo, who stepped on his foot twice and claimed both incidents were entirely his fault, and Lisa, who wouldn't stop pestering him about Cas, but whose questions he blatantly ignored. The general consensus was that the dance was 'hella fucking awesome, even the crazy but hot ginger chick', so they counted it as a success. Even Kali didn't seem too put-off, though she did inform Anna that she would be shunning her for the next week, on principle.

Dean helped Balthazar find his car (an obnoxious shiny black European thing that had appeared in the Novak's driveway about three days after Balthazar announced he'd be staying until the end of the summer) as Jo and Anna walked arm-in-arm behind them, discussing whether or not playing Justin Timberlake obnoxiously loudly was a torture frowned upon by the Geneva convention. Jo's argument was that it was okay, as long as he was singing with Lonely Island, and Anna was adamant on the point that they should just 'kill him, and get it over with'.

Dean pointed to a black car underneath a tree, squeezed between a Jeep and a beat-up Ford. "That you?"

Balthazar followed his hand. "Oh, cheers." He said, relief in his voice, and they walked quickly to it, Dean eager to ditch his friends and find his car and his Cas.

Once they reached the car, Dean glanced over to where Anna and Jo were retracing their steps, looking for Anna's earing. Good, out of earshot then. "Hey, Balth?"

Balthazar turned the key in the lock and opened the door. "Hmm?"

"Get her home by one, okay?"

Balthazar nodded. "I'll try." He winked at Dean, obviously temporarily insane.

Dean grabbed the collar of his shirt, and growled at the Brit, taking no small pleasure in the fact that he had a good couple of inches on him. "I am trusting you with the girl I have known almost all my life, my younger sister, the daughter of a woman who could kill you in the middle of the Mall of America with a million witnesses and still get away with it, the most important girl in my life." His eyes narrowed, and he said, in his most threatening voice, "Get. Her home. _By one_."

Balthazar just nodded, eyes wide.

\----

After Dean said goodbye to Jo and Balthazar (by sliding his finger across his neck and glaring at the older boy, who visibly gulped, presumably in terror) and helped Anna find Josh, he went looking for Cas. To his disappointment, he couldn't find his friend's car and Gabe, in between heated, disgustingly-tonguey kisses with Kali (who, by the way, was dressed in this strange green and black space-suit looking thing), said his little brother had already gone home.

Dean was going to punch something. Probably Gabe if he didn't move soon. He groaned, settled for flipping off his Highness, and started the dark trudge back to his car, which he had parked across the lot so as to avoid any and all incidents of drunk highschoolers puking on things.

He kicked a small pebble he had found along the way, then, under the flickering glow of a streetlamp, looked up to find Cas leaning against the Impala.

Let's clarify.

Castiel Novak had unbuttoned the top button of his dark red shirt which clung to him in all the wrong (read: right) ways, and had put the aviators back on. He was leaning against the hood of the Impala and a corner of his mouth was turned upward in a smirk.

Yeah.

Pretty much the sexiest thing Dean had ever seen in his life.

"I believe you promised to 'take me for a drive sometime'?" Cas said, as Dean slowly approached him.

"What, now?" Dean said with a smirk.

Cas shrugged. "Unless you've gotten a better offer I don't know about."

Dean kept walking slowly, until he was standing in front of Cas in the space between his legs. He leaned in close. "I think that maybe you don't understand what seeing you standing like this," He trailed a finger down the newly exposed skin of Cas' chest. "Leaning on my car, in those sunglasses, does to me."

Cas 'hmm'-ed a little, and leaned into Dean to whisper in his ear, "You can think whatever you like."

And really, what else was Dean going to do but press his body against Cas' and kiss the bastard like his life depended on it?

After a few minutes Dean pulled away, realizing that he had Cas laying flat against the hood of his car, and that they were in a public parking lot outside of their high school where anyone could see them. Which was potentially problematic.

"How about that drive?" He said sheepishly, head raised a few inches above Cas, who was looking well and truly debauched.

Cas huffed, lips shiny and face flushed (again, _sexiest fucking thing_ ). " _Now_?" He growled impatiently.

"What, you got other plans?" Dean stood up straight, and offered Cas a hand, which he rolled his eyes at.

Cas sat up, and swiped his thumb across his lower lip. "Are you always this impossible?"

Dean shrugged. "Pretty much. Are you always this frustratingly hot?"

Cas laughed, and stepped around to the passenger side of the car. "Almost always, actually."

____

About ten to fifteen minutes later, Dean Winchester was happy. Really, truly, perfectly happy. He was driving down the open road, his favorite Led Zeppelin song drifting quietly out of the Impala's speakers, next to his best friend, who was on his way to becoming a lot more than that. He looked at Cas, illuminated occasionally by street lamps and passing cars, at his blue eyes and messy hair and pretty much perfect jaw.

He, of course, had brought that stupid trenchcoat of his to the dance, because it was apparently the only jacket he owned. Dean had tried, in the past, not to find that endearing, but found everything about Cas endearing, even when he found things simultaneously really fucking frustrating. The stupid coat, the head-tilty thing, the scrunchy eyes and slight smiles, the way his lips turned up when he said certain words or pronounced certain letters, the hair that refused to lie straight, the way he always reverted to dictionary-speak when he was uncomfortable or on edge, everything. It was all part of Cas, his Cas, and he wouldn't change a single thing. He felt himself smiling, and felt like the world's biggest sap. Unfortunately, he didn't give a single solitary fuck.

Cas' eyes scrunched, confused, and he turned to look at Dean. Dean felt his smile grow a little wider, and Cas sighed, raised a single, fondly exasperated eyebrow, and spoke.

"Dean."

"Yeah?" Dean said, grinning like an idiot.

"Road."

"Jesu-" Dean swerved the steering wheel, so they were no longer driving in the left lane. He blushed, flexing his fingers around the wheel. "Sorry. Distracted."

Cas made a little 'hmm'-ing noise and placed a warm hand on Dean's leg and squeezed slowly. Dean swerved again, just slightly. "By what?"

Dean growled a little, deep in the back of his throat, and refused to take his eyes off the dark road ahead of him. "I fucking hate you, you know that?"

Cas pulled his hand away. "No you don't."

"No, I don't." Dean sighed, though he still would not (absolutely would not) look at Cas. "Asshole."

\----

“Sometimes, I cannot stand your taste in music.”

Dean let out a noise of derision and closed the car door. “Hey, screw you Novak, this is a classic.”

“It was a classic the first three times I heard it on the drive here. Now it’s just noise.” Cas huffed as he leaned back against the car window, then surveyed his surroundings with a raised eyebrow. “Where are we?”

“Um,” Dean glanced around, then shrugged. “Dunno, but it looks empty.”

“Empty field in the middle of the night with a strange man.” Cas shook his head, and laughed softly. “This is either the start of a bad pornoraphy movie or a bad horror movie.”

Dean let out a barking laugh, and moved around the car to stand in front of Cas. “Well, I’m down for porno if you are...”

Cas shoved him away, laughing. “You can't _honestly_ think I’m that eager to crawl into bed with you. Even your ego isn't that big.”

“Oh, don’t act like you don’t want all of this.” Dean said, moving his hands up his sides in a way that probably wasn’t seductive at all, but it made Cas laugh, and he really loved it when Cas laughed.

Cas wrinkled his nose. “Please never do that ever again.”

“You know you like it.” Dean said with a smirk, taking another step so he was maybe a few inches away from Cas.

Cas sighed, and gave him a little smile. “Maybe a little.” Then he  kissed Dean again, slower this time. Soft and slow and warm and just- nice. Very, very, nice. His lips closed over Deans softly, as if they had all the time in the world and he was simply enjoying memorizing the exact shape of Dean's mouth.

But then he was pulling away again, and _goddammit_ he needed to stop doing that, it was like _nine_ different kinds of unfair.  “Dean, what are we?”

“Hmm?” Dean, whose brain was still very much in his dick, had a moment of trouble understanding the little sounds that Cas was combining to form words. “Oh. Jeez- man, I don’t know.”

“Oh.” Cas said, nodding slowly. Dean leaned in closer, smiling and fully prepared to take Cas in a manly fashion, before the other boy pulled away a-fucking- _gain_. “Well, what is _this_?"

Dean groaned, throwing his head back and stepping away from Cas, exasperated. "Fuck, Cas, I _don't know_! Can't it just- _be_?"

Cas huffed in frustration. "No need to get so angry about it, I'm just curious-"

"Curious and _completely_ ruining the mood!" Dean cried, narrowing his eyes at the other boy. His face was still a bit flushed and his hair was sticking up in a way that made Dean's mouth a little dry, which only served to annoy him more. "Dammit Cas, can't we just- you know-" He made a suggestive motion with his eyebrows.

" _No_ ," Cas said, incredulous. "No we can't just _you know_. I need to know what this is! Is it a one-time occurence? A relationship? Something we'll regret in the morning?"

Dean huffed, well and truly irritated now. "Cas. Come on. We don't discuss this shit, not now. I mean, fuck man, I still don't even- I mean, you're a _guy_ -"

Cas rolled his eyes and gave Dean a look that could be translated roughly to mean 'you can fuck right off with your fake-ass heterosexuality', then huffed and almost growled, "Dean. You are sober, in full control of all mental abilities, and have been dry-humping me for the better part of the night. I think it's safe to assume your sexuality is flexible, at the least."

"Well-" Dean huffed, deciding it was very much not the time to think about Castiel Novak's rough, gritty voice growling out 'dry-humping'. "Okay, fuck, I'll give you that, but- dude, this a lot to process, okay?" He ran his fingers through his hair then brought his hands down to rub his palms against his eyes. "I don't know what I am, I don't know what this is, can we just be sticking our tongues in each other's mouths again?"

Pushing himself away from the car, Cas narrowed his eyes at Dean. "And then what after that?" He tilted his head just slightly, obviously trying very hard to understand. "Are we going to just- forget this whole night ever happened?"

Dean sighed. "Do you _want_ to?"

"I-" Cas' eyes widened, and he blinked quickly in surprise. "I asked you first."

"What are you, twelve?" Dean scoffed, rolling his eyes.

Cas glared at him. "Don't change the subject."

Dean took a couple steps back, running his hand along the side of his face reluctantly, trying to answer as honestly as he could. "I dunno- maybe!"

" _Maybe_?" Cas cried, incredulous.

 _Yes, maybe._ Dean rubbed the palms of his hands against his eyelids until he saw stars. _Maybe I want to hold your hand and trace the lines of your body, maybe I love the way you look in the passenger seat of my car, maybe I want to show you off. Maybe I can't breathe when you look at me sometimes, and maybe you make me feel like I'm worth something more than being a good son or brother. Maybe I want Sam to tease me about you the way I tease him about his study-partner, maybe I just want to kiss you until I can't think straight. And maybe all of that terrifies the everliving fuck out of me- maybe I don't want to risk losing you, maybe I can't understand why you'd want me, would want to stay with me, and maybe I can't get too attached- maybe I want to be able to live without you so I might be okay when you leave._ Dean's eyes flickered to the ground. "I- I don't know what I want."

Cas blinked twice, looking at Dean with an expression of confusion, anger, and disbelief. "I would think it would be simple. Either you want me-" His voice softened, lowered slightly. "Or you don't."

Yeah, if only it were that simple. If only there weren't a thousand other things to consider, a million different consequences and decisions and questions- Dean stared at the ground. "I- I want you. God, I do. I just-"

"Don't want to be with me." Cas said quietly, head down and eyes lowered.

Dean reached out for his arm, wanting so much for him to understand. "Cas, that's not-"

"I." Cas took a small step backward, holding his arm uncomfortably. "I think I want to go home now. I've got- well, curfew, and I want to make sure Anna made it home okay."

"Cas, please." Dean said weakly, grabbing Cas' hand. "Look at me, jus-"

"I can't, Dean." Cas said, looking up at Dean with a weak expression. "I- there's so much I don't understand- how I'm supposed to act, what I'm supposed to do- I never have." He sighed and glanced down at their hands. "You're supposed to be the one who shows me how to do things the right way. But even I know that these, just- mindless, animal acts of lust- they can ruin friendships. And you- you're very important to me."

Dean gulped with difficulty, squeezing Cas' hand between his fingers. "You're really important to me too, man."

Cas nodded, and his face shifted to something colder and much more restrained than before. "Then please take me home."

"You-" Dean groaned and let go of Cas' hand, running his hands through his hair in frustration, because he- he just wanted things to be _right_. Just for one night. He just wanted a few damn hours to forget everything and just- enjoy himself. To find something he wanted and take it, consequences be damned. He took a deep breath and made a decision.

Turning back to Cas, he felt his jaw clench before saying, "Sure, Cas. Whatever you want. Let's get you home."

\----

 

The drive back was-

In a word?

 _Exhausting_.

For one thing, it was nearly one in the morning after a really fucking draining evening. For another, he was driving in complete silence next to his- best friend, wet dream, whatever you wanna call it- because playing classic Zeppelin just didn't seem right for the circumstances.

Dean turned the car off as he parked it in front of the Novak mansion with a weary sigh, trying to focus on anything but Cas next to him. Looking up he counted three lights on in the Novak house; the living room, Anna's room, and either Luc or Michael's room. Dean reclined further into the seat, exhausted, and relished the silence for the first time that night.  He glanced sideways to Cas, who was sitting awkwardly in the passenger seat, hands in his lap and staring straight forward.  Dean took a deep breath and cleared his throat. Slowly, Cas turned to face him, eyes soft.

"Cas, look, I'm really sorry abou-" before he could finish, Cas' hands were on his jaw and he was leaning over to kiss him slowly.

Cas pulled away as Dean's eyes flickered shut, and he felt but didn't see Cas whisper softly, "I would wait for you, Dean Winchester. Just- say the word. I'd wait."

Dean's eyes opened with a jolt as he heard the car door close. In the span of a couple seconds Cas had left the car and Dean, and he was walking determinedly to his house, entering and shutting the door behind him without looking back at Dean once.

Dean sat for a second in the driver's seat, paralysed with shock, before throwing the door open and shoving the key to the Impala in his pocket. Running to Cas' side of the house, he found the all-too-familiar climbing tree that lead to Cas's window and scrambled up it, ignoring the damage he might be doing to a rented army costume.

Lifting himself into Cas' bedroom he found it empty, and took a moment to glance around the room, from Cas' cluttered bookshelf he tried fruitlessly to keep ordered alphabetically despite the fact that he added new books to his collection almost daily, to his closet full of button-down shirts, waistcoats, bowties, scarves, sweaters and- Dean smiled to see- two of Dean's shirts, hanging carefully on the rack. The room still smelled vaguely of sage (from when Anna went on a cleansing frenzy and burnt so much sage the house was declared a biohazard) but also a little like Cas, that indescribable-Casness.

With a sigh, Dean sat down in Cas' swivelling desk chair, hands in his lap, and began to wait for Cas, watching the clock on the wall as the seconds ticked by. A minute passed, then another, then-

  
\----

"You really shouldn't worry so much." Anna said with a smile, leaning on the doorframe of her bedroom door.

Cas shrugged, giving his older sister a small smile. "I don't think I can help it. I worry. It's my job."

"It's really not, honey." Anna rolled her eyes, scoffing and reaching up to ruffle his hair (a feat that was getting more and more difficult every time Cas grew a couple more inches). "You don't always have to be the responsible one, Cassie. I can take care of myself, you know."

"Oh, I know." Cas nodded understandingly, chuckling. "I only check up on you after things like this to make sure you don't need help hiding a body or establishing an alibi."

Laughing, she pulled him into a hug that he returned slowly, with careful arms. Squishing him tighter than he would have expected, his delicate sister probably cracked a couple of his ribs. "G'night, little brother," Anna said with a smile, shooing him in the direction of his room before re-entering her own and closing the door behind her.

Cas smiled, and walked past Gabe's darkened room (empty, because no doubt he and Kali would be out for at least a few more hours, trying their hand at being arrested for public indecency and/or vandalism) and up to his own, pushing the door open to find it neither dark nor empty.

Inside sat Dean Winchester on Cas' favorite swivel chair, dead asleep and still surreally dressed like a military officer from the 40s. Cas took a moment to notice how peaceful Dean looked in his sleep- the weight on his brow wiped away by the ease of sleep. Too often he carried such an unnecessary weight on his shoulders- taking care of his brother, his irrational need to take care of Cas as well, the pressures of school, and- something else. Something old, and buried, an uneasiness from his childhood that still weighed on him today. Cas had a sneaking suspicion, form the bits and pieces he'd gathered from both Dean and Sam, that it had something to do with their father, but he didn't want to pry.

There was a noise downstairs, probably Luc tripping over the couch or coffee table, and Cas turned instinctively towards it at the same moment Dean was jerked awake.

"What the- son of a _bitch_ -" Dean cried, flailing his limbs a bit in the chair as Cas turned to raise an eyebrow at him. Eyes wide, he placed his hands on his knees as if to steady himself and looked up at Cas with a strange, half-hysterical expression. "Cas- Jesus. Were- were you just watching me sleep?"

Cas tilted his head slightly in confusion. "Is that not something I'm allowed to do?" He asked, moving to his closet to pull a couple of shirts off the hangers and pants from the drawer.

Dean sighed, eyeing him warily and breath hitching from the apparent shock of waking up and seeing Cas standing over him. "I mean, it's- it's a little creepy, man."

Cas nodded, pursing his lips and storing that information in his mental list of 'Things Dean Does Not Like', before turning back to Dean. "Noted." He said simply, throwing a shirt and a pair of pants at the other boy, who caught them on instinct before looking curiously up at him.

"What's this?"

"Those are your clothes."

Dean sighed, exasperated, and shook his head at Cas. "Yeah, no, I got that, thanks. Why'd you throw them at me?"

Cas shrugged, a gesture he'd acquired from spending the appropriate amount of time with Dean required to start assimilating his habits. "Well, I figured you wouldn't want to sleep in your military regalia."

"Well, yeah, that would kinda suck- wait." Dean squinted at him. "What was that about sleeping?"

"Sleeping. In this room." Cas said simply, unbuttoning his own shirt and pulling it off his chest. "With me."

Dean made a little squeaking, strangled noise, and Cas turned to look at his friend, who was staring, red-faced, at him. "You- I- wha- I- hreh-" Dean sputtered, eyes wide. " _We're going to_ \- uh,"

Cas wondered for a minute if maybe Dean was choking or having a stroke, though both options seemed equally unlikely. "Yes, Dean. You can sleep here with me. You're exhasted, and in no condition to be driving."

Dean let out a shaky breath, and smiled weakly. "Jesus, Cas, you can't just-" He shook his head, and didn't continue what exactly Cas couldn't just. "Dude, I'm fine. It's not even that far away."

Cas rolled his eyes and glanced around, eyes settling on a roll of tape he'd been using for his recently completed English project. He picked the roll up, turned, and threw it not-quite-gently at Dean in a swift motion. Dean's eyes widened as the projectile flew at him, reached a hand out to catch it before it could hit him, missed, and the roll of tape hit him squarely in the forehead.

"Ow!" Dean cried, hand flying to his head. "Son of a- Cas! What the hell was that?"

"Testing your reflexes." Cas said simply.

"Testing my-"

"Reflexes. Yes. Which are sluggish at best, and that's when a roll of tape is flying leisurely towards you, not when you're behind the wheel of a car whose brakes need work anyway."

"Hey, screw you, Novak, I'm a great driver." Dean grumbled, settling deeper in the chair. "Besides, my house isn't that far away. I'm fine to drive."

"You'll fall asleep in your car as soon as you park it." Cas shook his head, leaning down to pick up his trenchcoat and not missing the way Dean's eyes flicked to his chest for a moment.

"Will not." Dean huffed.

"You will and you know it. You do it all the time, and always wake up in the middle of the night, cramped and cold."

Dean made a mocking, childish noise and stuck his tongue out at Cas, who felt himself smile  at his best friend. Then Dean's face closed off slightly, and he looked down at the ground. "Cas, do you really think it's a good idea- I mean, after tonight-"

"Dean." Cas said simply, in a tone that allowed for no argument, and Dean lifted his head to look at Cas with fearful eyes. "I said I'd wait. So I'll wait. I'm not going to take advantage of you, if that's what you think."

Dean's eyes widened further. "No, I mean- shit, Cas, I- uh, I didn't mean it like that."

"It's fine." Cas looked down at his black dress pants, and sighed softly. "I'm going to change and wash up. I'd rather you not try to drive home, but you can if you want." He smiled at his friend and walked out of his room and to the bathroom down the hall.

He didn't allow himself to hope Dean would stay.

He didn't think about how nice it was to share a bed with someone, and how, since Meg, he was beginning to miss it.

He didn't acknowledge the part of him that was trying to get him to realize that he was falling as much in love with Dean Winchester as was humanly possible, or that Dean didn't and probably couldn't feel the same, or that sharing a bed with him was only going to make things worse.

Castiel just folded up his pants and put them with the rest of the dry cleaning, pulled on his pajama pants, used the toilet and brushed his teeth, washed his face, and walked back to his room, without thinking about any of those things.

When he entered the room and found Dean Winchester asleep in his bed, his costume thrown in a pile on the floor, Castiel shook his head with a smile and folded the shirt and pants carefully, feeling more than a little overwhelmed at how his heart seemed to swell and jump into his throat, making his breath hitch.

He turned off the lights and climbed into bed beside Dean, who grumbled and turned to look at him through half-shut eyes.

"Took you long enough." He said grumpily, as Cas sat down on the bed beside him.

Cas didn't really have a response for that, but he did notice Dean was lying directly in the middle of the bed, leaving very little room for Cas to sleep in. "Move over."

"Make me." Dean smirked, like the petulant child he was.

Cas frowned, before accepting Dean's challenge with a smile. He bent down and kissed Dean slowly, the way Meg liked to be kissed (though she'd never admit it; she always claimed to like the rough kisses better), and watched as Dean closed his eyes, half-flustered. Cas took the opportunity to shove Dean over onto his back, making space for himself on the bed and lying down with a victorious smirk.

Dean stared up at the celing in shock for a moment, before huffing and turning to glare at Cas. "Cheater."

Cas just smirked at him in return, and Dean's eyes narrowed further, before he turned over on his side, back to Cas, and fell silent. Cas closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep not long after that, lulled to unconsciousness by the steady rythym of Dean's breath.

\---- 

Hours later, Cas was woken up by sound of Gabriel's car in the driveway and the slamming of the front door,  and sleepily found Dean's arm wrapped around him, his back pressed to Dean's front as the other boy breathed a steady rythm into his neck, and smiled dreamily as he drifted back to sleep.

\---- 

When Castiel woke up the next morning, he stretched sleepily and turned over in his empty bed, knowing he shouldn't have been surprised or hurt to find that Dean had left without saying goodbye.


End file.
